Right Time
by Enthusiastic Fish
Summary: Sequel to Right Choice. Gibbs/Mann romance. Two years after they got back together, Jethro and Hollis are poised to take another step. 18 chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is a sequel to my Hollis-centered story _Right Choice_. That means you can anticipate it being centered on Hollis and Jethro yet again. I know that will shock my regular readers seeing as I am generally an avid Tim fan, and he only shows up occasionally in this story. But I have discovered that, even though romance is far from my favorite genre, I really like writing Gibbs/Mann. So if you don't like it, I suggest you don't read this story because that's what this is and I make no apologies for my preference. =D This is not a casefile. It's just a nice relationship between two people with real life throwing in occasional difficulties.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own NCIS, nor the characters. I am not making money off this story.

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><p><strong>Right Time<br>**by Enthusiastic Fish

**Chapter 1**

The phone started ringing at 3 a.m., bringing Hollis out of a sound sleep. She sat up, yawning.

"You want me to get it?" Jethro mumbled from beside her.

"And give everyone at work an excuse to gossip about me? Dream on," she replied and reached over him to grab the phone. She grinned as Jethro trailed his hand across her torso. "Hello. Mann."

"_Holly?"_

Instantly, Hollis was wide awake.

"Jason, what is it? What's going on?"

"_I just...got a call."_

"Diana?" Hollis felt a chill at the thought of Jason's oldest daughter...who had decided to emulate her aunt and join the Army.

"_No, Diana's fine. It's...about Dad."_

"Dad?" Hollis repeated in shock. "What about him?"

"_He's dead."_

"What?"

Jethro sat up and looked at her, noting the change in her voice.

"_I got a call from Metro PD in Washington DC. Dad apparently listed me as his next of kin. He's dead."_

"He...was in...DC?"

"_For the last twenty years."_

"You _knew_?"

"_Yeah. I did."_

"How...did he die?"

Jethro took her hand. Hollis looked at him briefly but kept her attention on the voice on the line.

"_Some brave soul decided to mug an 88-year-old man. The police just got a hold of his information and called me."_

"So...why call me?" Hollis asked, trying to find an equilibrium even Jethro's close proximity couldn't bring.

"_Because I called Mason first and you know what he said."_

"The same thing I want to say. Good riddance. So why me next? Why not Marty or Joey? Neither of them ever resented Dad as much as the rest of us."

"_Because...Hollis...according to the police, the last thing he said was your name."_

Another cold chill, this one completely different from the one she'd felt before.

"My name? Why my name?"

"_I don't know, Holly. They only asked if I knew who Hollis was. They thought it might be the name of a family member...maybe a wife."_

"For all I know, it could be."

"_Holly."_

"What do you want me to say, Jason?" Hollis asked. "It's four in the morning my time...and you're calling me to tell me that Dad is dead. I don't know what you're expecting. Regret? Grief? I'm not feeling either of those."

"_I wanted to ask a favor."_

Hollis sat quietly for a moment.

"You want me to go to DC ...and deal with all this, don't you."

"_Holly, I would. Honest. You know I would be the one to deal with this if I could, but Jill has her surgery tomorrow and I don't want to leave her right now."_

"Mason told you to shove it, didn't he."

"_Pretty much."_

"How did Dad know your contact information?" Hollis asked, stalling to buy time.

"_I didn't search for him, if that's what you're wondering. I wouldn't have dreamed of it. ...not after he left for the last time."_

"Then, what happened? He called you?"

"_Holly, I swear I never would have bothered with him, but I've never written him off like you and Mason did. I'm more like Joey, I think."_

"So when?" Hollis asked.

"_Ten years ago, more or less. I got a call at work. It was Dad. He said he'd seen my name in a random search and finally got the courage to call me. He figured I'd be the least likely to hang up on him."_

"I guess he was right."

"_Yeah. Maybe. He said that he didn't want much, just to know how everyone was doing. He'd been Googling everyone's names but there's only so much you can get that way. So I sent him updates about twice a year."_

"You satisfied his curiosity?"

"_Look, Holly,"_ Jason said, sounding a little irritated, _"he's our father, whether you like it or not. And don't even say it because I'm not claiming some sort of redemption. I never even saw him and only talked to him once or twice in the last ten years."_

Hollis sighed...and Jason knew her well enough to know that signaled her capitulation.

"_Thanks, Holly,"_ he said softly. _"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear."_

"What is it that you need me to do?"

"_Go to DC, talk to the police..."_

"Transfer the body to a mortuary, etc, etc?"

"_Yeah. Holly, can you do it? Not do you want to, but can you?"_

Hollis sighed again. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with on her vacation, but she knew that she'd have to. Jason couldn't. Mason would sooner spit on their father's grave, Marty would fall apart if he knew and Marjorie would throw a fit if Joey left. That meant Hollis...who had been the last person her father had thought of, apparently.

"Yeah, Jason. I can do it. I'll make the arrangements and let you know. Tell me how Jill's surgery goes."

"_I will. Hollis?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Thank you."_

"Bye, Jason."

"_Bye, Holly."_

Hollis hung up and took a deep breath. She looked at Jethro who, typically, didn't say a word, instead choosing to look at her and wait. When she didn't speak instantly, he raised an eyebrow in question.

"My dad is dead and I have to go back to DC, where he's apparently been living for the last twenty years, and deal with it. Sorry...our vacation's over. Can I stay at your place?"

Hollis was sitting stiffly in bed but when Jethro put his arms around her, she relaxed against him.

"At the risk of sounding melodramatic, Jethro, I don't want to talk about it right now. Could you just hold me?"

Jethro smiled and eased Hollis back down onto the bed. She cuddled up beside him and was glad that he was generally taciturn. They didn't speak but, although they were quite relaxed and comfortable, Hollis didn't sleep. While she couldn't see his face, she was pretty sure that Jethro didn't either. He just respected her need for silence.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Yes, Hettie, I'm fine," Hollis said. "No, it's not a happy occasion but I'm fine. You're sure you don't mind taking over for a few days?" She paused and listened and then laughed. "You sure that _Sam_ can tolerate you taking over for a few days? Okay, okay. Thank you, Hettie."

Jethro looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Hollis smiled. They hadn't really talked about it other than to schedule the flight from LA to DC. He didn't push her to talk. She would when she was ready. He knew that. Hollis hadn't ever talked about her father except to say that he'd not been in the picture since she was a teenager.

"Hettie's fine with being in charge for a few days. She probably will love it. Everyone's under her thumb essentially anyway."

"Including you?"

"When she wants me to be, yes, including me."

"You packed?"

"Uh-huh. One carry-on. One checked. You?"

"Everything I came with."

Hollis sighed. "Jethro?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Hollis sat down on the couch. Jethro joined her.

"You ready now?"

She smiled and nodded. "So...Dad and Mom weren't ever married. Dad came around when he wanted and when he didn't, he was gone. He left for the last time when I was fifteen. So I haven't seen him in more than forty years...and I haven't really even thought of him in probably thirty years. Mom gave me enough trouble and I loved her. But now, Dad's dead. He got mugged...and I don't know how I feel about the fact that a man I looked for...for twenty years and then hated and then ignored is now dead."

Hollis shrugged.

"I guess I have a chance to find out."

Jethro put an arm around her. It was a testament to how unsettled Hollis was that she leaned her head on his shoulder. She didn't cry...but then she had told him once that only two men had ever been able to make her cry...and he was one of them. Her father was the other...but that was the crying of a teenager not an adult.

"Well...time to go," Hollis said, back in control.

"And I'm with you no matter what," he said softly.

Hollis was surprised, he could tell. He didn't often speak so demonstratively, but then she smiled.

"I'm glad, Jethro."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The plane touched down and began to taxi to the gate.

"_Hello and welcome to Washington DC. Local time is 5:24 p.m. You may now use approved electronic devices. Cell phones may also be used, but we ask that you remain seated with your seatbelts securely fastened until we reach the terminal and the captain has turned off the Fasten Seatbelt sign. Thank you for flying with us and we hope to see you on a future flight."_

"I haven't been back here in a while," Hollis said. "You've been coming out my way for the last two years."

"It hasn't changed a whole lot."

"Doesn't matter. I liked living here. It'll be good to see it again." Then, she pulled out her phone.

"Who you calling?"

"My brother, Mason. I promised Jason I'd let him know I was here of my own volition."

Jethro laughed and settled back in his seat to wait.

"_We'll be taxiing to the gate for a few minutes. Thank you for your patience."_

Hollis dialed and then waited.

"_This is Manns. Lorraine speaking."_

"Hi, Lorraine. It's Hollis. Is Mason around?" She kept her voice carefully neutral.

"_Hollis,"_ Lorraine said with a false cheer. _"It's been a while."_

"I know. Job's keeping me busy."

"_Mason is fighting with his new television, but I think he'd appreciate the interruption."_

Hollis laughed. "If he's on a roll, I can call back."

"_Let me check on him."_ There was a soft click as Lorraine set the phone on the counter. There was a faint call and then some silence...and then a shuffling sound.

"_Hollis?"_

"Hey, Mason. Guess where I am."

"_I knew you'd cave to Jason when he called you. Why bother? He left us. We didn't leave him."_

"I know, Mason. I'd rather not, but you know that someone has to and with Jill's surgery."

"_Yeah, well, Jason should have called Joey."_

"And face the wrath of Marjorie? I doubt it."

"_That's still no reason to dump this on you."_

"There is a reason, Mason. I don't like it, but there is a reason...and I am doing this willingly. Not _happily_, but willingly."

"_What reason? Come on, Hollis, you never wanted to see him again. What reason could get you involved in putting the jerk in the ground?"_

"Jason told me that he said my name before he died."

"_And you care enough to want to know why?"_

"Barely enough, but yes."

"_Don't ask me to come to the funeral or memorial service or whatever you do. I don't care and I don't want to be there."_

"I wouldn't dream of it. I was just stepping in as a shield between you and Jason."

Mason laughed. _"Right. Hollis?"_

"Yeah?"

"_If you need the moral support..."_

"I've got Jethro."

"_Really?"_

"Don't start, Mason."

"_Wedding bells?"_

"If there are, I'll be sure to let you know."

"_Do that...but when you call Joey and Marty, make sure they know that there's no way I'm coming to bury Dad."_

"I know...and so will they."

"_Better you than me, Hollis."_

"I wish I could agree...although..."

"_I'd better get back to my TV."_

"Don't let the technology get the best of you."

"_Bye, Hollis."_

"Bye, Mason."

She hung up and smiled at Jethro.

"Not coming?" he asked.

"Of course he's not. Mason hated Dad from the day that I was born and it only got worse every time he left. He wouldn't come even if I begged...but he'd feel bad if I did beg and he said no."

The plane finally came to a stop and the ding indicated they were allowed to stand up. That ended the conversation for the moment. They joined the queue of people waiting to get off the plane and didn't really talk until they reached Jethro's car in the parking lot. Hollis shook her head at the sight of it. Jethro smiled and gave her a look.

"I just can't get used to the idea of you owning a hotrod, Jethro. It's...incongruous."

"Wouldn't have had it, but my dad fixed it up for me."

"He sounds like a nice guy...and running a store? Perfect."

"Not perfect, but...better than yours, I guess."

"No guessing about it. It's better." She smiled then and headed for the passenger side. "Maybe you'll dare introduce me sometime. He can't..." Hollis stopped, realizing what she'd almost said and kicking herself for it.

"Can't what?"

"Nothing."

"What, Holly?"

"I was going to say that at least he couldn't ask you for grandkids at this point. I was thinking of my mom."

Jethro was quiet for a moment (quieter than usual) and then he smiled. "Don't walk on eggshells around me, Hollis. Not necessary." With that, he got into the car.

Hollis got in and sat a bit stiffly beside Jethro as they drove to his house. When they arrived they got out in silence and went in. Hollis took the opportunity to look around. She never could get over how austere Jethro's house was. Even though he'd lived alone for years, she'd never seen so little decoration in a personal space.

"Bedroom is upstairs," he said.

"I remember where it is," she replied and grabbed his bag as well as her own and hauled them up. She thought she caught a ghost of a smile on Jethro's lips at her action. She paid no attention, instead choosing to continue on her way. In the bedroom, she set her bag on the bed and his on the floor. With a deep breath, she opened her bag and pulled out the clothes she'd brought for an uncertain stay. After a couple of minutes of hanging clothes in the closet, she sighed and sat on the bed. Her mother dying had been sad. Her father's final disappearance had also been sad...and anger-inducing. Now that he was dead, she felt very little about it except confusion. It wasn't as if she'd formed a special bond that was now broken. That bond had broken a long time ago.

"_Hollis!" The man at the front door elicited an excited squeal from Hollis._

"_Daddy! You're home!" She ran into the room, not noticing that Mason stormed away, up the stairs to his room. Her attention was all on her father standing with his arms wide open. In moments, she was being hugged by her father who'd been gone for such a long time._

"_I've missed you, Hollis."_

"_Don't go away again, Daddy. Stay here."_

Hollis pushed the memory away. Her father had never answered her when she begged him to stay. Not once in all the times he'd come and vanished, not even the last time.

"_You're leaving again, aren't you," Hollis said, feeling more resentment than sadness._

"_I have to, Hollis."_

"_Why?" she asked. "There's no reason! You just keep leaving!"_

_He didn't reply._

"_You don't have a reason," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "Go. I don't care. I don't care! I hate you!"_

"Hollis?"

Hollis sat up at the call from downstairs.

"Yeah?"

"You want to talk to Metro today?"

"Yes. I'd like to get it over with."

Jethro came up and joined her in the bedroom.

"You want me to come with you?" he asked.

Hollis thought about it. On the one hand, it would be nice to have someone there, but on the other hand, Jethro was known to Metro...and not with the best reputation. That might not make her task any easier.

"No. I think I'll do this first part by myself. Will you come with me to his house?"

"Sure."

No questions. No insistence. Hollis could admit that there were times when Jethro's habits irritated her but she really appreciated that he accepted her decision without comment. Instead, he handed her a farecard and kissed her.

Quickly, Hollis grabbed her purse and left the house. On the ride to the police station, she couldn't help but wish she'd been like Mason and told Jason to deal with it himself or to brave the wrath of Marjorie and let Joey do it. She laughed to herself at the realization that not even Mason had suggested putting Marty in charge. They had always been a bit overprotective of their youngest brother. Would he be told at all? Hollis decided to let Jason decide that. Marty had been absolutely devastated when he had realized their father was never coming back. Why bring those feelings up again?

She walked up the steps into the precinct and to the front desk.

"Hello. My name is Hollis Mann. I need to speak to Detective Needham, please."

"Regarding?"

"He called my brother about my father being killed. A mugging. His name is Carlton Jepson."

"Go through those doors on the left and you'll find Det. Needham at the second desk on the right."

"Thank you."

Hollis walked back thinking how surreal it seemed that she was on the other side of the desk, as it were. She wasn't used to being the one affected by a crime. She much preferred being the one _investigating_ the crime. However, since she had no choice, she squared her shoulders and walked to the indicated desk. The detective was fairly young, certainly younger than she was.

"Detective Needham?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"My name is Hollis Mann. I believe you investigated the death of my father?"

"Carl Jepson? Yeah. I'm sorry for your loss."

Hollis smiled. "I'm not particularly, but I'd like to know what happened and when I can get the body moved to a mortuary. How long will you need to keep it?"

"It?" Detective Needham asked.

"Look," she said sternly, "I haven't seen my father in forty years. I couldn't even identify him more than likely, but someone has to deal with all the details and that's me, unfortunately. I just need to pick up his personal effects and know how much longer Metro needs custody of the body."

"You said your name is Hollis?" the other detective asked.

"Yes."

"You know, he said..."

"...my name before he died. I couldn't tell you why. He certainly never bothered speaking to me. Detective Needham?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

Hollis smiled at the form of address. She'd unconsciously shifted into her Army voice.

"Do you know what happened to my father?"

"Yes, we do. Your father was apparently in the habit of taking a walk every evening, the same circuit. He'd go to a café, a local bakery, through a park and then home again. Three nights ago, he was followed from the café and pulled into an alley. The guy that mugged him was a local kid, about eighteen, who got high and got jittery. Apparently, your dad wasn't fast enough handing over his money and the kid shot him. There are witnesses who saw the kid running out of the alley with the gun and he was picked up by police not long after. Your father managed to crawl out of the alley and lived long enough for police and an ambulance to come, but he died en route to the hospital."

Hollis nodded. "The autopsy is done?"

"Yes. No surprises on cause of death. Gunshot to the abdomen."

Another nod. "And the assailant?"

"Arrested, waiting to be arraigned."

"Then, can I please get my father's personal effects?"

"Of course. Come with me, ma'am."

Det. Needham gestured and Hollis walked with him. He was almost walking at attention. She grinned at his discomfort.

"At ease, Detective," she said.

He laughed. "For some reason, you bring back memories of boot camp."

"I was in the Army myself, actually."

"Really?" he looked at her in surprise.

"Shocked?"

"Not shocked but you don't look it, ma'am, if you don't mind my saying so."

"I don't mind."

Detective Needham stepped ahead of her and asked for her father's effects. Then, he handed them over.

"That's it. Not much to it. Wallet, keys, a piece of hematite."

"Hematite? Interesting. ...and you don't need these for anything?"

"No. You can take them."

"And is there any problem with my going to his house?"

"No. Not at all. Feel free."

"Thank you. Is there anything else you'll need from me?"

"No. When you decide which mortuary to use, just call up and we'll make arrangements to transport him."

"Thank you, Detective Needham." She nodded to him, shook his hand and left the precinct. Once she got outside, she stopped and took a deep breath...and then smiled and walked down the steps...

...to where Jethro was standing waiting for her. He said nothing, but when she silently asked for a hug, he gave it without hesitation. He led her to his car and they drove home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

That evening, they sat in the living room and Hollis stared at the meager possessions her father had carried before his death.

"I expected keys and a wallet. Cheap wallet. No car keys. Of course, he was nearly ninety. He probably shouldn't have been driving anyway." She leaned forward and picked up the dark gray stone and held it out to Jethro. "Why hematite? What's with that?"

Jethro shrugged and took it from her. "It's a rock. Why does it have to mean something?"

"It doesn't _have_ to...but maybe it does."

She held out her hand for it and Jethro placed it in her palm. Hollis stared at it for a few seconds and then set it down.

"It certainly means nothing to me. Whatever meaning it had to him...it had nothing to do with my family." Hollis sighed. "I never wanted to be a part of his life again. I left all of it in the past, Jethro. I had four brothers. They were enough. Even after Mom died, they were enough. It figures that he'd die and use his last breath to drag me back into all this again. I wanted to forget it. I'm too old to be dealing with daddy issues." She laughed and stood up. "I don't need this, Jethro. I really don't." She walked out of the room.

Jethro looked at the piece of hematite and then after Hollis. It was hard to know what to do in this situation. He looked at the hematite and then he pulled a small box out of his pocket. He flicked it open and stared at the ring. It was simple. Nothing fancy or particularly imaginative. It was white gold with a single diamond, inset so that it wouldn't catch on anything while she was at work. There was only one thing that made it different. There was a thin gold band that ran through the band and then around the diamond. He figured that she'd like it, and that she'd say yes...but this just didn't seem to be the time to ask the question. Not with this chaos affecting her so much...no matter how much she _didn't_ want it to affect her. He slipped the box back into his pocket and got up to follow her. The ring could wait.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Hollis sat down on the back steps.

_I will _not_ cry about this. I cried for Dad years ago and that's the end of it. I'm not crying anymore. I'm too old for that._

In spite of what she told herself, Hollis felt the tears and she was irritated. Then, the door opened behind her. Jethro came and sat down beside her. She wiped the tears away.

"This is so stupid," she said.

"Hollis?"

"Don't start quoting rules at me, Jethro. I'm not in the mood."

"Rules don't have anything to do with this."

Hollis sighed. "Sorry. I didn't want to be acting like this. It's so...annoying."

"You know..."

Hollis looked at him and pointed one finger at his face.

"Don't even think it, Jethro," she said and smiled.

He smiled back.

"Daddy's girl?" he asked.

Hollis turned back toward the yard.

"I would have been if I could have. I _wanted_ to be a daddy's girl," she said and laughed. "Every time he came home, I would hang on him for days, even weeks. He didn't work while he was there. He was just home...while Mom worked. He'd play with me and...and then, he'd leave." Hollis leaned forward, rested her chin on her hand and then looked over at Jethro. "Isn't it just typical? A little girl with a delinquent dad. I'd like to think I grew up pretty sane, though, in spite of all that."

"Don't seem crazy to me."

"But are you mentally correlating all this with my idiotic behavior throughout our relationship?"

"Did _you_ do that with _me_?"

Hollis grinned. "Of course."

Jethro smiled and put an arm around her.

"Thanks for sticking with me through this, Jethro. I can't promise to be detached and logical about it."

"Wouldn't expect it of you."

"Is that a compliment or an insult?"

"Neither. Just an observation."

"I feel like he _picked_ this time to die, knowing that I was happy and settled and doing well. He had to come back and throw my life into chaos one last time. If he had just died, I'd never have known or cared...and Jason probably would have taken care of it all himself without bothering the rest of us."

"How long did it take you to start resenting him coming?"

"Until I was about twelve or so. By the time I was a teenager, I hated him for showing up and then disappearing. To this day, I don't know why Mom kept taking him back."

"You ever ask her?"

"Oh, I shouted it at her once," Hollis said, remembering one of the many fights she'd had with her mother over the years. "I don't think I ever stopped shouting long enough to hear whatever answer she might have given. It was probably something as simple as she loved him. Loved him enough to disregard the reputation she got, the way people looked down on us. Maybe she confided in Jason. I don't know. Poor Jason. He sure got saddled with us. Sometimes, I wondered if he resented being put into a paternal position like he was."

Hollis took a deep breath and leaned comfortably against Jethro.

"I still remember...when I was ten, I started making up reasons why he had to go. They were silly stories like his being a secret agent or something like that. I made the mistake of writing them down and hiding them in my room. Mason found them."

"What happened?"

"Mason...he was so angry through a lot of his teenage years and he took it out on us since Dad wasn't always there to get it." Hollis sighed. "He started shouting at me for trying to defend Dad and he tore up all the stories I'd written down, saying that the truth was that Dad didn't really love us and that's why he never stayed. He said that all he wanted was to have sex with Mom. He didn't care about anything else... ...and Jason heard him. He was furious with Mason. I think it's about the only time Jason got violent with any of us. He grabbed Mason by the arm and dragged him out of my room. I heard them scuffling in the hall and then Jason threw him against the wall and shouted at him that he had no right to treat his family like this and if he didn't stop it, he'd be no better than Dad."

"Did he shape up?"

"He was quiet for a while...and Jason apologized later that day, but Mason never got mad at me again. He saved up all his anger for those times that Dad showed up...and when he stopped coming...Mason stopped shouting. By that time, I was angry enough for the both of us. Mason had always resented Dad showing up. I resented his leaving. So Mason calmed down a lot after Dad disappeared. I was the one who needed to be reined in, but I took out my anger in fights with Mom. We sound so dysfunctional...but we really weren't. In between Dad's visits, we were a close family. Dad was always the one who threw us for a loop."

"How did you know he wasn't coming back?"

"Mom told us. She sat us down after Dad left and said he wasn't ever coming back again. Mason said it was about time and that's it. Marty had a real hard time. Couldn't sleep at night, cried a lot. Mom even took him to a shrink for a while. ...but Jason and Joey...they didn't say anything. They just accepted it. I was furious and hurt. I shouted for most of the day...but I cried that night. Jason came in and hugged me until I stopped. Told me that I would always have him...and I did."

"Which is why he could talk you into this."

"Yeah," Hollis said with a smile. "That's it."

"So...what's the schedule?"

Hollis sat up. Back to business.

"I'll go to his place tomorrow."

"_We'll_ go."

She smiled. "Right. _We_ will. See what there is to deal with. Jason gave my number to the attorney so we can see if he had any property to give away or whatever. I need to find a mortuary and see what it'll take to get him buried."

"What about tonight?"

"I want to forget about him for tonight. Tomorrow is soon enough to deal with it all."

Jethro stood up and held out his hand. Hollis looked at him quizzically and then let him pull her to her feet. He led her back into the house...and down to the basement.

"Why do we always end up in your basement, Jethro?" she asked with a lopsided smile.

"Best place in the house."

Hollis laughed. "What are we going to do down here?"

"You're going to help me start a project."

"What is it?"

"A surprise."

Hollis looked at him. Jethro seemed positively playful...for him.

"How am I supposed to help if I don't know what it is?"

Jethro just grinned and held out a broom.

"I'm going to sweep?"

"Gotta start with a clean space."

"If you wanted to distract me, Jethro, you've succeeded."

"Good. Start sweeping."

"Yes, sir!"

Hollis began sweeping up the detritus of what seemed to be months' worth of sawdust and splinters of wood. It was nice, mindless work and she wasn't at all miffed at being set such a task. She'd learned not to expect romantic flourishes from Jethro. He'd come out with them very occasionally, but to expect them was to lead oneself to disappointment...and she didn't need all the hoopla generally speaking anyway. When they happened, she enjoyed them, but stuff like this? It was all about give and take...and she felt as though they'd finally hit that perfect stride where they both would do what it would take to make each other happy.

When he started picking out wood, she began organizing his tools, asking if he needed this or that one. He answered briefly and then continued on with his own task. They worked companionably for about an hour and then went to bed.

"You know, Jethro," Hollis said as they settled in, "you should get a new bed. This one has got to be years old."

"It is. It's functional."

"But not comfortable."

"The Army colonel is complaining about comfort?"

"Retired...and now used to sleeping on a good mattress," Hollis said and then rested her head on his chest and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jethro woke up first and watched Hollis breathe for a few minutes. She'd left her hair in a ponytail, but a few hairs had come loose in the night. They were trailing across her cheek. He resisted the impulse to brush them away because he knew it would wake her up and he wanted to watch her sleep.

With a slight pang, he remembered doing the same thing with Shannon, but the pang wasn't as deep as it had been before and it wasn't a bad memory anymore. He didn't express it, neither of them felt the need to talk about it, but being with Hollis had helped him heal. There would always be a part of him that longed for what he'd lost, but Hollis' insistence that she not be a replacement had helped more than he would have thought possible. It seemed like semantics, but it wasn't. It was a real difference. He wasn't trying to duplicate a previous relationship. His relationship with Hollis was different from his relationship with Shannon. It wasn't better. ...he couldn't really compare the two because they were quite different from each other. ...but he, too, was so different now from how he'd been at eighteen. Regardless, it was a good relationship he had now, and he loved Hollis...and had got to the point where he didn't feel _guilty_ for loving her.

And he felt she deserved to know that. She hadn't pushed. She hadn't pushed him to express his love. She hadn't pushed him to anything but to a decision about whether or not he was serious. If he wasn't, then she hadn't been willing to start again. If he was, she would accept that. Jethro could acknowledge that he hadn't made it easy for Hollis to deal with him in the beginning, and he had caused her pain that could probably have been avoided. ...but now, now, it seemed as though they were in the right space. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the right time.

It would have been the right time had her father not died. Now, he didn't want to risk tarnishing the act with a bad memory. There were too many bad memories between them. He didn't want to add to then...even obliquely. Given the rocky nature of Hollis' memories of her father, he didn't want to have the proposal always associated with his death.

Carefully, he slid off the bed. She'd be waking up soon, he knew. He couldn't, offhand, think of a day that she missed running in the mornings. He didn't always join her, but it was part of her routine. Both of them were habitually-early risers, too many years of military discipline, but when they were on vacation, they tried to sleep in. It was getting close to seven.

Quietly, Jethro crept down the stairs and picked up his phone, hesitated for a moment and then dialed.

"_McGee."_

"McGee, it's Gibbs."

"_Boss...what's up? I thought you were on vacation."_

"I need you to do something for me."

"_What?"_

"Find a good, cheap funeral home either directly in DC or somewhere close around it."

There was a long pause and Jethro knew that Tim was trying to decide whether or not he should ask.

"_Okay...uh...Boss?"_

"Hollis' father died," Jethro said, getting the information out of the way. "We're back in DC now and she needs to make arrangements."

Jethro smiled as he heard a muffled sigh of relief.

"_Sure, Boss. Sure. I can do that. I'll call you back."_

"Good." He hung up when he heard movement upstairs. No need to alert her to his meddling just yet.

Hollis came down the stairs, dressed for running.

"You coming?" she asked.

"Got things to do."

Hollis smiled. "Mysterious...that's fine. Breakfast when I get back?"

"What makes you think I haven't already eaten?"

Hollis closed her eyes, inhaled and then looked at him.

"No coffee yet."

Jethro chuckled and didn't reply. Hollis trotted by him and out the door. After she had gone, Jethro headed down to the basement, mentally patting himself on the back for anticipating Hollis' complaint the night before. As he began laying out the pieces in the appropriate spots, he realized that Hollis couldn't help him anymore...unless she wanted the surprise ruined. She'd know exactly what it was. In fact, the mattress would be coming soon. He'd hoped to bring her back to a new bed and mattress...but with a ring on her finger and not in his pocket. He didn't dare leave it lying around anywhere. Hollis would be sure to find it, even if she wasn't looking for it. He knew she was hoping for it...but had never pushed him to take that step. The more he learned about her father, though, the more he could see why marriage and commitment were so important to her.

As he smoothed out the planks, he began to figure out just how he'd have to modify his plans. For one thing, even after the funeral, Hollis wasn't likely to be in the mood for romance for a few days...and no matter how practical they both were...this called for romance...at least _some_ small amount. For one thing, after she said yes, there would be some big decisions for them to make about just _where_ they'd end up. Long distance was all well and good, but seeing each other a few times a year wouldn't be enough if and when they were married.

Still, all that would work itself out when the time came. For now, he focused on making the bed. These were the things that came more easily to him anyway.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Hollis took advantage of the fact that she was running alone to push herself harder than she usually did. Running was her way of working through tension. Jethro had his boats. Hollis had her running.

As she ran, her mind wandered to what they might find in her father's home. Did he have close friends? If he'd had another family, surely they'd have taken care of everything. So it seemed as though he was alone. She was glad if it was true. He'd left so much chaos in her own family that he didn't deserve to have a lovely family somewhere else. Perhaps it wasn't the most charitable attitude she could have, but it was how she felt. He had made a choice and he had to live with the consequences...since the rest of them had also had to live with the consequences of the choices he'd made.

After a couple of miles, Hollis headed back to Jethro's house. When she opened the door, she could smell the coffee...but more than that.

"What's for breakfast?" she called out.

"Coffee."

"Figured. Anything else?"

"Omelettes."

"Works for me. I'll shower and be down in a couple of minutes."

"It'll be ready for you."

"Great," Hollis said and ran up the stairs.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro listened for the water to turn on and then he pulled out his phone. He dialed a familiar, if not often-dialed number.

"_Good morning, Leroy."_

"Hi, Dad."

"_What can I do for you? Why aren't you at work?"_

"I'm on vacation."

"_With your lady friend?"_

"Yes."

"_How serious is this, Leroy? I know you two have been seeing each other for a while now. What's the word?"_

"How would you like to meet her?"

Jackson was quiet for a few seconds. Then...

"_That serious?"_

"Yeah."

"_Well, I'd love to meet her, then."_

"In a few days."

"_What's the delay?"_

"Her dad died a couple of days ago and she's in DC dealing with all the details."

"_You sure you're timing this well, son? She may not want the reminder."_

"She didn't get along with her dad."

"_Sounds familiar, Leroy."_

"It's different."

The water went off.

"Dad, I've got to go. You have any plans in the next week?"

"_Only my usual. Come on by anytime. I want to meet this woman,"_ Jackson said with a chuckle.

"Bye, Dad." Jethro hung up and refocused on the eggs. He wanted to make sure they were done by the time Hollis got down the stairs.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Hollis showered with her usual efficiency and was dressed and back downstairs in about ten minutes.

Jethro had his usual coffee and there were two omelettes sitting on the counter.

"Looks good to me," she said, sitting in front of one of the plates.

Jethro just smiled and sat down beside her.

"You ready?" he asked after a few minutes.

"No, but I'd rather get it over with. No sense in prolonging the agony."

"When do you want to head over?"

Hollis looked at her half-eaten omelette. It didn't seem as appetizing as it had.

"Now?"

Typically, Jethro didn't protest. "Okay."

They cleaned up from breakfast and went out to the car. The conversation on the ride over was focused only on getting them successfully to their destination.

"Is this it?" Jethro asked, slowing down in front of a house.

"That's the address. It must be it."

"Okay."

They got out of the car and looked at their destination. Hollis wasn't really shocked. She hadn't had any particular idea of where he'd be living. ...but this...it looked too normal. A small townhouse in a middle-income neighborhood. Nondescript in every way. Who would even think twice about someone who lived in a place like this?

"It's not going to change if we stay out here."

Hollis smiled. "I know." She took a deep breath and headed for the front steps. "I guess it's time to..._meet_ my dad... I'll probably know him better from looking at his home than I ever did while he was alive."

Repressing any further desire for delaying the inevitable, Hollis unlocked the door and stepped inside, Gibbs right behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It was a small house...smaller inside than outside, it seemed, but not from clutter. It had very few personal touches for a man who had lived in the space for so long. It seemed as though he had not made enough memories to fill even this small home.

Hollis looked around the living room. No pictures on the walls. No bookshelves. There was a computer in one corner with a flashing modem on the floor.

_So...Dad is more computer literate than Jethro,_ Hollis thought with a smile.

How could something live as long as her father had and leave so little behind?

"Did _anyone_ live here?" she said softly.

"The key worked," Jethro said.

"Metro's been in here. I can tell that much, but...they said they didn't take anything."

Jethro walked around and examined the windows and then headed back into the kitchen.

"No sign of anyone having broken in," he called.

"I don't think anyone did," Hollis said. "It's just...so barren. He was nearly ninety years old. No pictures? No knick-knacks?"

"Not everyone collects things."

"This is worse than _your_ house," Hollis said.

"Well?" Jethro asked, rejoining her.

"There's only one room left down here," she said, and walked over to it. "I can't imagine that he slept upstairs. Climbing up and down at his age would have been pretty difficult, no matter how spry he was."

Hollis opened the door and looked around. It _was_ the bedroom, but again, there was so little to see. No pictures on the walls, no personal touches. Just a bed, clothes in the closet. A dresser. She looked back at Jethro.

"It's like he didn't have any sort of a life other than when he was with us."

"Maybe he didn't," Jethro said.

"He didn't have to stay away." She looked around once more. "Upstairs?"

"Only place we haven't gone."

"So...is he really a secret agent?" Hollis asked with weak smile.

Jethro said nothing...wisely.

They headed up the stairs. There were two closed doors. The first was a closet. The second was a room...and it was full...more or less.

Hollis walked inside it and looked around. The walls, at least, were covered with pictures, small strips of paper.

"It's us," she said in surprise. "All of us."

The walls were sectioned off and each member of the Mann family had an equal part with their names at the top and pictures and pieces of paper filling the space. Hollis walked forward and examined her section. Jethro said nothing, but he was there...and she was really glad he was. Looking at this room...if she hadn't known it was her father, she would have thought it was a stalker of some sort.

"The emails Jason sent," she said. "That's what these things are. ...and the stuff he must have found on the internet."

"A shrine," Jethro said softly.

"Yeah..."

They were interrupted by a knock on the front door. Hollis actually jumped and was embarrassed by her reaction. She rolled her eyes.

"Want me to get it?" Jethro asked.

"No. Uh...just keep looking around. I'll be back."

It almost felt like an escape getting out of the room, down the stairs and to the door. She opened it and smiled.

"You've got to be Hollis," the old woman standing on the stoop said.

"Excuse me?" Hollis asked.

The man and woman smiled. They seemed to be the quintessential old couple. Both white-haired and slightly bent...and they looked a lot alike.

_I wonder if Jethro and I will be together long enough to do that,_ Hollis thought randomly to herself.

"You're Hollis, aren't you?"

"Yes...um...who are you?"

"Oh, my...I have such terrible manners sometimes." The woman stuck out her hand. "I'm Ginny and this is Hector. We're your father's neighbors. I saw you pull up here, knew you had to be a relative of some sort. Carl never talked about his family a lot, but he did mention his kids. I'm sorry for your loss."

Hollis shook both proffered hands.

"Thank you," Hollis said, thinking that there was no way on earth she could explain just how little loss she felt, that any loss she _might_ have felt had occurred when he had abandoned his family for the last time. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, no! No! We wouldn't want to intrude. I'm just so glad that there _is_ someone who turned up. Carl always seemed so lonely, but he never would let people in. Not that kind of person, I suppose. Sometimes, people just aren't. He was friendly enough, willing to chat, but I don't think he had any real close friends." Ginny sighed a little but smiled. "If there's anything we can do, you just come on over. Our phone number should be on the fridge. We gave it to him in case there was some sort of problem for him. The police actually talked to us first before they tracked you all down. It must have been quite a shock."

"Yes...it was."

"Well, that's all we had to say."

"Wait...there is something, if you don't mind."

Ginny's face lit up. "Of course, dearie! What is it?"

"I actually hadn't seen my father in a long time...what did he do...do you know?"

"How long?"

"A _long_ time."

"Oh, let me see..." Ginny's face scrunched up in thought. "He worked at a bank for a number of years, isn't that right, Hector?"

Hector nodded.

"Yes, and before that...well, he said he traveled a lot, a salesman, nothing very exciting, but I guess it paid the bills."

"Yeah, I guess so. Thank you, uh...if there's anything else, I'll call."

"Anytime, dearie. Anytime! Come along, Hector. We don't want to stand here gabbing all day, keeping this young lady from her duties." Ginny grabbed her husband by the arm and began to pull him down the steps. He met Hollis' eyes for just a moment and smiled tolerantly and then let himself be led away.

Hollis closed the door and smiled as well, strangely heartened _and_ disturbed by the brief conversation. She couldn't go back upstairs for a moment. Instead, she sat down on a step and thought about the strangeness of what constituted her father's life.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro didn't blame Hollis for being discomfited by this room. For a man who hadn't cared enough about his own family to stick around, he sure had built up a shrine to them. He glanced around at the various people. He had met some of Hollis' brothers, but not all of them. What grabbed his attention was the section devoted to Cherie, Hollis' mother. There were a number of pictures of her, most of them from her younger days, and Cherie had been a lovely woman with a strength of will that showed up even in static photos. He smiled. Hollis, although her facial features were not very similar, was definitely related to this woman. There was the same piercing stare, the same stubbornness.

How had such a strong-willed woman fallen for a man like Carl Jepson? How had she tolerated his absences with such equanimity as Hollis had described?

Perhaps she hadn't. How many cases of abuse had there been with the woman seeming to be too strong to be put in such a situation? How many women took back shiftless husbands over and over again without any better explanation than love or need? Jethro could easily imagine her convincing herself that this time he would stay.

Turning away from Cherie's part of the wall, Jethro's gaze fell on a jewelry box...something seeming out of place for an old man...and in spite of Hollis' assertion that he wouldn't have come upstairs very often, there was no dust in this room. Carl must have made the trek, no matter how difficult it was.

He heard the door close and then no footsteps reclimbing the stairs and he smiled. No matter. If Hollis needed a few moments to get back into this situation, he could continue his examination alone. With a couple of strides, he approached the jewelry box and lifted the lid and, again, was surprised. There were...rocks. Not a lot of them, but each one had a space with a label, not with the name of the rock, but with...

"'Cherie,'" he read aloud. It was a large geometric stone that looked like some kind of pyrite. Beside that was another rock, this one a reddish brown, and the space was labeled 'Jason'. He wasn't sure what kind it was. Then, a green lumpy stone labeled 'Mason'. Beside that was a large piece of jade which was labeled 'Joseph'. Then...an empty space labeled 'Hollis' and the last was a piece of mica with the label of 'Martin'.

"Hollis...hematite," he mused to himself. That empty space explained a lot.

"Holly!" he called.

"Yeah?" came the unenthused reply.

"Come up here!"

No response but he heard quick footsteps and within a few seconds, Hollis was back in the room. That was one of the things that impressed him about her. Hollis, no doubt, was not happy to be coming back, but she didn't put it off once called back.

"What is it?"

"Come and look at this."

She walked over and joined him. She didn't speak but he could see her mind working as she looked over the pieces of rock with the labels. "Jasper for Jason. Malachite for Mason. Is that jade?"

"I think so."

Hollis nodded.

"What's the last one?"

"Mica."

"...and hematite for me," she said, coming to the same conclusion. "So that's why he said my name. I was..._with_ him that night. He had me in his pocket." Hollis laughed without humor and then swore softly. "Why did he stay away, Jethro? I don't understand. If he cared this much about us all, why did he go? His neighbors say that he worked at a bank and before that he was a salesman. The salesman tracks with what I found out when I got to college. It's not like he was doing anything sensitive or classified. If he had to travel for work, we could have dealt with that."

"Maybe he didn't think he cared until later."

Hollis took a deep breath and let it out quickly before reaching out to close the jewelry box.

"Maybe not. I look at this room...and I...it's weird...and it makes me angry."

"Why?" Jethro asked, although he had a pretty good idea. "Why, Holly?"

"Because it shows me just how selfish my father was. He didn't want to...to put himself out there. He didn't want to be _with _us. He wanted to _have_ us. We're trinkets for him to carry around. We're pictures for his wall. ...but we're not a family. If he suddenly realized, ten years ago, that his outlook left him alone and friendless, serves him right! Even when he called Jason, the only thing he said he wanted was an update on what everyone was doing, once a year or so. That's it. He still didn't want to be a part of our lives...and he could have been. Even Mason might have forgiven him given the time to think about it...but he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't come back and promise to be around, to be open to building some kind of relationship. My father was a selfish..."

"Sometimes, it's hard to admit you were wrong," Jethro said.

"Tough," Hollis shot back. "A lot of things in life are hard. If you really want them, you deal with the hard things. If you're not willing to do that, then you don't deserve to have them."

She looked around the room once more and shook her head.

"No. I can't forgive him for this. I would have been a lot happier if he had just died and not let any of us know about it." She swore and then walked to the door. "I'm going to call the lawyer and see about getting rid of this _junk_."

She thumped down the stairs. Jethro could hear her anger and hurt in every footstep. He would need to go down, but he decided to give her a few minutes alone first. She'd be just as irritated at her own reaction as she was at what her father had _not_ done for his family. Jethro was definitely on her side in this situation, but he had to admit that he was surprised that she had jumped to what was probably the right conclusion so quickly rather than dwelling on the superficially sweet idea of her father symbolically carrying his family around with him.

He looked at Cherie's wall once more and then noticed what looked like a hand-written letter. Curious, he walked over to it and squinted at the shaky hand.

_Dear Carl,_

_It has been a long time. I wish it didn't have to be this way. The ultimatum I gave you so many years ago was serious but I had hoped that you'd come around, that you'd accept what all of us wanted to give...and that you'd give what we all needed. I suppose that's all water under the bridge, however. You haven't been here. You haven't seen your children grow, mature, rebel. You haven't seen your daughter join the Army and fight in a war. You haven't seen your son get his Ph.D. in engineering. You haven't seen anything because of your...stupidity._

_However, that isn't why I'm writing to you. I loved you for too many years to let this pass unsaid. I'm dying of cancer, Carl. Our children are losing one of their parents. I've tried to win, but this is one fight I'm going to have to concede. Cancer is going to win this time. I don't think I want you to come to the funeral when it happens, but I wanted to ask you for one last thing._

_You're their father. You can't deny it no matter how often you tried to tell me that your absence didn't matter to them. I listened to that twaddle for too long and our children paid the price for it. You are their father. They're losing one of their parents soon. Can't you look beyond yourself, beyond your own wants and be there for them? Please, Carl, BE their father for once in your life...and for the rest of your life. They're all adults now. None of them need to be cared for. They need to be cared ABOUT. It won't take much, not of time or of money. It will only take the love you gave to me before our children were born._

_If you can't do that much, then don't do anything at all. If you can't be their father, then you might as well not even exist to them. They've moved on from your abandonment. You can blame me, as you did that night, for driving you away, but you made the choice. You could have stayed with us, but you weren't willing to do that, to be a real father. _

_Please, be a father to your children, Carl. Please, do that for whatever love you might still feel for me._

_Cherie Esther Mann_

Jethro finished reading the letter and took a deep breath. Was this all Carl had been able to do? It was a poor way to honor a dying woman's last request. He had died and left nothing good for his children to remember.

As he left the room to join Hollis downstairs, Jethro promised himself that he wouldn't ever turn into this man. The surface similarities he could see would remain on the surface.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Hollis paced back and forth in the small living room for a few seconds, trying to calm herself down. She had been surprised by her own anger. Maybe she hadn't got over her abandonment issues as well as she thought she had.

When she finally judged herself to be calm again, she pulled out her phone, but she didn't call the lawyer. Instead, she dialed Jason's number.

"_This is Jason."_

"Jason, when are you coming?" Hollis asked with no preamble.

"_Holly?"_

"Yes. When are you coming, Jason? When will you be here to deal with...all this?"

"_Holly, what's wrong?"_

"Nothing. Just...tell me when you're going to be here. ...how's Jill?"

"_She's fine. Surgery went well. They don't anticipate any problems. Anthony is going to come in the next day or two. When he gets here..."_ Jason suddenly stopped talking. Hollis could hear a faint murmur but not loudly enough to discern any of the words being said. After a few seconds, Jason came back on. _"It looks like I'll be out there tomorrow, Holly."_

"What? Are you sure?"

"_Jill just took me to task for dumping everything on you and leaving you alone to deal with it. So with her glaring at me, I'm telling you that I'll be coming tomorrow morning on the first flight I can get."_

"I'm staying with Jethro. Do you want–?"

"_Nah. I'll get a hotel. Three's a crowd, particularly when two are lovers and the third is a sibling."_

"It wouldn't be a problem."

"_It's fine, Hollis. Don't worry. I'll be there. What's rattled you?"_

"Dad's house...well, one room of it."

"_What's in the room?"_

"Impossible to describe accurately. You'll have to see it to believe it."

"_Okay. Uh...I'll call you when I get in. If it's not too late, we can go over together. Have you talked to the lawyer yet?"_

"Not yet."

"_Okay. Why don't you just wait on that until I get there? No reason to deal with all that more than once."_

"Okay. Thanks, Jason."

"_Thank Jill for lecturing me from her hospital bed."_

Hollis laughed. "Thanks, Jill!"

"_Hollis said thanks, Jill,"_ Jason repeated dutifully. He listened. _"She says to tell you that she's always willing to get me on track. Anytime."_

Hollis smiled.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Before he got more than a step out into the hallway, Jethro's phone rang.

"Gibbs."

"_Hey, Boss. It's McGee."_

"You got a funeral home?"

"_Yeah...and a few other things. I mentioned what I was doing to Tony and Ziva and they gave some other suggestions...and Ducky extends his condolences."_

Jethro smiled. He had known that Tim likely wouldn't be able to keep it a secret.

"So what else did you get?"

"_A place to buy coffins cheap but still of pretty high quality. The funeral home actually will deal with the embalming and stuff like that. Then, Tony said that maybe she would want a headstone, too...and he said he knew someone who did that kind of thing and gave me the information. It's a real company, too...otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered."_

"Pretty thorough, I'd say. All right, you have a minute?"

"_It's pretty slow at the moment, Boss. I've got a couple of searches running, and nothing is urgent."_

"Okay. Hang on." Jethro went down the stairs and watched Hollis pacing back and forth while talking on the phone, but some of the tension was gone from her body and from her face. So whatever she was doing was pretty positive.

"Thanks, Jason. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Call me when you get in."

"Holly?" Jethro asked.

Hollis looked up and smiled. "Yeah?"

"McGee needs to talk to you."

Jethro ignored the surprised inhalation on the other end of the line when he said that.

"McGee? You mean...Agent McGee who works for you?"

"Yeah."

Hollis' eyes widened. "Okay. Jason?" Her attention returned briefly to her own phone. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." She disconnected and then held out her hand for Jethro's phone. "Why does he need to talk to me?"

"You'll see."

She rolled her eyes and then took the phone. "Yes, Agent McGee?" She paused and then laughed. "Spit it out, Agent McGee. You don't need to stutter." Another pause, longer this time and then her eyes lifted to meet Jethro's and the smile on her face changed. "Yes, thank you. I need to get something to write it down on..."

Jethro handed her a notepad and pen. She took them and began writing down names and phone numbers.

"Thank you, Agent McGee. Thank the others for me as well, would you?" One more pause. "Yes, now, I'm sure you have work to do. ...yes, thank you. All right. Bye, Agent McGee." She hung up and handed the phone to him. "Jethro..."

"Just making it easier. That's all."

Hollis walked over and looked at him for a few seconds. Then, she hugged him.

"Thanks."

"I think it might be in my job description."

"If it's not, I'll be happy to add it."

"Who was on the phone?"

"Jason. He's coming tomorrow."

"Good."

"Yeah, I agree. He wants me to wait on the lawyer stuff until he gets here. So I've got some free time on my hands. I don't want to stay in this house anymore. There's nothing in here I want."

"You want a surprise ruined?"

Hollis let Jethro go and looked up at him.

"Yes, please."

Jethro smiled. "Then, let's go."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Hollis grinned as Jethro led her down into the basement...again. This was _his_ place and she definitely appreciated his sharing it with her.

"Ah, so I get to see what you're making?"

"And you get to help make it."

Hollis laughed outright. "I'm not a carpenter. That's _your_ area of expertise. Remember?"

Jethro was serious for a moment as he turned to her. "You don't have to be good at it. You just need to help where you can. That's enough."

Hollis looked at him, surprised at the sentiment Jethro had expressed. Then, she looked over his shoulder and saw the work he'd done without her. It was clear what this was. ...and they'd started working on it _before_ she'd complained.

"Jethro...you..."

Jethro smiled, almost playfully (which was weird), seemingly pleased that she'd realized his omniscience, and pulled her down the rest of the way.

"How long were you planning this?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Beds are easier than boats."

Indeed, the frame was already done. He had the outline of a headboard leaning against the wall and all that really seemed to be missing were the legs and a mattress. Sure, it wasn't stained, varnished or smoothed out yet, but the actual bed was nearly complete.

"So...really, how long?"

"The mattresses should be here in the next couple of days."

Hollis laughed.

"Jethro...you...are so..."

Jethro just smiled and gestured toward the unfinished bed. "You said you wanted the surprise ruined."

"You made me help you work on it before. Not much of a surprise if I have to participate in the construction."

"Sometimes, the best surprises are the ones you helped make."

Again, a strangely serious statement in the midst of a fairly light conversation.

"Jethro...have you been taking gnomic-statement lessons from Ducky?"

"Nope. You ready to work?"

Hollis looked at the unfinished frame and nodded.

"Yes. Thinking about this will be a lot easier than thinking about everything else."

"All right. Let's get to it." He handed her a T-square and a level. "Gotta make sure it's square first."

Hollis nodded and was more than happy to focus on building a new bed rather than on the disturbing room in her father's house.

...but as she and Jethro worked more-or-less silently together, she couldn't help but wonder if this bed pointed to something else. They hadn't really talked about marriage in the two years they'd been together, but it was on her mind, even if it wasn't on Jethro's. She couldn't deny that she liked the idea.

"Get the wood glue, would you? ...just put a bit down there. Good."

_...but where would we live? Which one of us will give up our job?_

It was a genuine conundrum. Hollis loved what she was doing, and she knew that Jethro wasn't ready to retire yet either. Both of them had good jobs, had established themselves in an area. ...and each area was on the opposite side of the continent from the other.

"Make sure you follow the grain as you smooth it."

"How much do I smooth it down?"

"Just get the edges flush with each other."

"Right."

Well, marriage hadn't come up yet; so perhaps she was worrying without cause. She knew that she herself could bring it up, but she didn't want to, mostly because she worried that Jethro didn't want it himself. She was certain that he was serious about their relationship, but maybe he didn't want to go the marriage route again. After all, it would be marriage number five for him...and his previous marriages hadn't been perfect...except for the one he'd had first.

"What color are we going to make it?"

"You want paint or stain?"

Hollis looked at the headboard.

"Stain, I think. Something red?"

"Mahogany?"

"That could work."

"Headboard's not finished yet."

"What do you have to do?" Hollis asked. "It looks fine. It's not fancy but..."

"Got more to do on it."

Hollis smiled. "You've already ruined the surprise."

Jethro just gave a slight smile and got back to work. They worked in silence for a while longer.

"How long you staying?" Jethro asked.

Hollis breathed in and then exhaled.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to get back to work sooner rather than later."

"Stay an extra week."

Hollis looked at Jethro in surprise again. He was still focused on bed, but she knew it wasn't idly suggested. He didn't make idle suggestions.

"Why?"

"My dad wants to meet you."

Hollis put out a hand to stop Jethro's work, forcing him to look at her. She left her hand on his arm.

"How do _you_ feel about that?" She smiled. "I've already told you I'd like to meet him, but we don't have to do it right now. We have time."

Jethro covered her hand with his own.

"My suggestion."

Hollis was embarrassed to find that her throat was tightening just a bit. She hadn't felt this emotional in ages.

"I'll have to check with Hettie."

"She won't care."

"I know that, but I still need to check with her. Besides, don't you have to go back to work next week yourself?"

"Yeah. Already planned on taking a long weekend."

Hollis grinned. "Has HR gotten over the shock of Leroy Jethro Gibbs taking all his annual vacation time?"

Jethro returned the grin. "Nope."

"Next weekend should give me the time to get all this stuff with my dad straightened out...and hopefully get him buried so that we can move on." She sighed. "...and by that time, I'm sure I'll want to get away from all that. ...we going there or is he coming here?"

"Can't leave his store."

Hollis laughed. "Wonderful. Yes, Jethro, I think I can swing another week here. Maybe I'll even stir myself to cook something while you're at work."

"It's dinnertime now," he said with a smile.

"Not tonight. I said _maybe_...and that's next week. ...Jason probably won't get here until tomorrow evening, but when he does, I want to take him to Dad's house and...and let him see what's been going on."

"And you want to go by yourself?"

Hollis had often appreciated Jethro's ability to understand what was needed, and this was no exception.

"Yeah. I think this needs to be a family thing for now."

"Fine."

"Thank you, Jethro...for all of this."

He squeezed her hand and then turned back to the bed.

"We can get it completely framed tonight."

Hollis looked at it. "Okay. Let's do it."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

By the time Jason arrived late the next afternoon, the bed _was_ framed. Hollis went to pick her brother up from the airport and then they were going straight to their father's home. Jethro took advantage of the solitude and began to carve the headboard. That was the part that would remain a surprise. He'd found a pattern that would be perfect with the color they were going to stain the bed.

As he worked, he thought about Hollis and her father. He found it surprisingly easy to imagine Hollis as a little girl, eagerly looking for her father to appear...only to be disappointed over and over again. The growing anger, the hurt...until finally the hope was lost and the father she had always wanted to have died in her mind, leaving her, essentially, fatherless.

He worked in solitude for about an hour or two and although he'd always considered his boat-building and other carpentry projects to be more or less solitary work by nature, he found that he had enjoyed the camaraderie with Hollis as they'd worked together building the bed. He'd enjoyed having his father helping with the toys he'd made. When had he become interested in human companionship? The thought made him chuckle.

_When _didn't_ I want human companionship, really?_ Jethro asked himself. He'd always appreciated it...and had appreciated solitude as well. It was just that he'd always made it difficult for people to stick around. It was to Hollis' credit that she had...and that made him even more determined to keep her. If she could tolerate him enough to stick with him this long, not making any real demands beyond that he give a serious effort, that meant she was worth keeping. He felt for the ring in his pocket and smiled. Yes, this was the right thing, the right choice. He just needed to get this whole mess with her father behind her. Next week. That would be the right time.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jason sighed as he looked around the room.

"I see what you mean, Holly. This is...weird."

"Yeah." Hollis picked up the box of rocks. "You want to have your representative?"

"No. I don't. ...and the only one who might is Marty."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"About Dad? Or about all this?" Jason asked, gesturing around the room.

Hollis shrugged. "Either. It's not going to be good for him no matter what."

"What do you want to do with it?" Jason asked.

"Burn it. Trash it. Sell whatever might have value. I don't want _anything_ that belonged to him, Jason. ...and that's not a mixed-up teenager talking. This is me. I've lived without him more than half my life. I have no intention of bringing him back into it. Not when I'm happy without him."

Jason looked around.

"Let's talk downstairs. This room...it gives me the creeps."

"Gladly."

Hollis led the way back down the stairs to the welcome blandness of the rest of the house. She sat down on a chair and looked at her eldest brother...and smiled.

"I'm glad you're here, Jason."

"Looking at all this...so am I. How did we all luck out to get a father like this?"

Hollis smiled. "Who knows, but he did give us each other. I don't think that's too bad."

"Mason would say it wasn't worth it."

"Well, Mason wouldn't want to credit Dad with flipping on a light switch...and you know that Lorraine hates any mention of the dysfunctional family...particularly me."

"You're too hard on her, Holly. Lorraine would never..."

"No, she wouldn't," Hollis said, "but she'd wish she could. Mason's loathing of anything Dad-related is one of the reasons she can tolerate the rest of us...but that's why she'd never invite Marty and his family over. Marty will always have stars in his eyes about Dad."

"Yeah, he will. ...and he'll have to know that Dad's dead, Holly."

"Yeah, I know." Hollis laughed suddenly. "How is that I became your partner in crime when it comes to this family?"

"Because someone had to take Mom's place."

"And I'm the only female?"

Jason shook his head. "No. You're just like Mom, Holly."

"Oh, come on," Hollis scoffed.

He grinned at her. "It's true. You are. Why do you think you both were at loggerheads so often? It's not because you were different. It's because you were the same. Both absolutely determined to be right." Then, he sobered. "...and both of you were trying to find the place in the world where you fit in. Mom never could...but you did...and that's why she ended up supporting your being in the Army. Because she could see that it was your place and she'd never begrudge someone their chance to be secure in the place where they belonged. Oh, she really wanted you to get married, give her grandkids...but she mostly wanted you to be happy."

Hollis hitched one shoulder uncomfortably and looked around.

"So...am I like Dad, too?"

"Only in your build."

Hollis picked up a pillow and childishly threw it at Jason.

"Actually, if anyone is like Dad...like _I _remember Dad, it's Joey. Joey never wants to make waves. He's really quite unassuming...and so was Dad. Thankfully, Joey didn't emulate Dad's less-endearing qualities."

"Like abandonment?" Hollis asked.

"Yes." Jason sighed again. "Hollis, do you want me to go to the lawyer by myself tomorrow?"

"No. I'll come with you. I might as well. You sure you don't want to stay at Jethro's place? He wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure. Three's definitely a crowd in this case."

Hollis stood up. "Well, come over for dinner at least. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Okay. How are things going with you two?"

"Good."

"I don't see a ring."

"That's because he hasn't given me one. I don't know if it's going to happen that way, Jason."

They walked out of the house together.

"It's what you want, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Haven't you talked about it?"

"Obliquely."

"You? Oblique?"

"I guess...I..love him more than I want to get married. He's already been married four times, Jason. Only the first one was right. I'll bring it up eventually...but I want to be sure this time. We've messed up our relationship often enough. Now, we just need to figure things out."

"How long will _that _take?"

"I don't know, but for once, I'm willing to follow someone else's lead."

Jason's eyebrows raised.

"Wow...you _must_ be in love if you're letting someone else dictate where the relationship is going."

"It's not quite _that_ far," Hollis said. "Don't get any ideas."

Jason chuckled. "Well, let's go. I've only met him once. I'd like to see more of this guy who has managed to wrap my little sister around his finger."

Hollis rolled her eyes and started the car. "You start talking like that when we get there and I'll make sure you live to regret it."

"How? You think you can take me?"

"Easily. ...but I'll do worse. I'll call Jill."

"Don't you dare."

"Then, don't start."

"Yes, ma'am," Jason said and saluted.

"That's the wrong hand, Jason," Hollis said without taking her eyes off the road.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Jethro?" Hollis called.

"Down here. Don't come down," came the faint reply.

Hollis grinned. "I already know what you're making."

"Stay up there!"

She smiled as she heard quick feet mounting the stairs. Then, he came out, looking as casual as could be. As he brushed the sawdust off his hand and greeted Jason, Hollis flashed back to their first meeting.

"_Jethro, this is my brother, Jason."_

_Jason clearly was sizing Jethro up, making sure he deserved to be with his sister. Jethro could see it, too, and he stood there, waiting, one eyebrow slightly raised._

"_Well?" he asked after a few seconds._

_Jason's mouth twitched and Hollis knew that Jethro had passed._

"_He's okay, Holly. Tell me about yourself."_

Now, they talked briefly while Hollis went into the kitchen and saw the three plates set out...and the takeout boxes half-heartedly hidden on the counter. She grinned but didn't complain. They both were quite capable of cooking when the occasion called for it. Dinner was calm and comfortable, for which Hollis, at least, was grateful.

Sometimes, meeting family went very badly. ...as it had for Mason and Lorraine. Mason had been less-than-forthcoming about his family history and everyone else had assumed she knew already...and so her first exposure to the "scandalous" background of Mason Mann had been quite the shock. Since that time, she'd always been a bit stiff and never had been comfortable with anyone in the Mann family. Jill and Marjorie, on the other hand, had felt the need to try and compensate for what they saw as a miserable home life. Jill had done it well...and Marjorie had only done fair. Marty's wife, Daralyn had come from a rather broken home herself, but she had overcome it and her strength had helped Marty immeasurably. All in all, Hollis had seen the best and the worst that could come from family meetings...and so seeing her favorite brother and her boyfriend getting along was a very good thing.

After dinner, they talked for a while longer and then Jason stood up and declared that it was past his bedtime. Hollis stood as well.

"I'll take you to your hotel."

"No, Jethro'll do it," he said with a smile.

"Jason," she warned.

"Don't worry, Holly. We just need to talk...man-to-man, and while I know you could beat me with one hand tied behind your back, you're not a man...and besides, I'm _your_ brother, not his."

Jethro stayed silent during the exchange but he raised an eloquent eyebrow.

"Jason," she said again.

"He won't beat me up either, sis," Jason said airily and then gestured for Jethro to precede him out of the house.

"Don't go into the basement," was all Jethro said as he left.

The door closed and Hollis was unsure if she should be irritated or merely exasperated at both of the men in her life. Finally, she smiled. If she knew Jason, the ride over would be full of him asking Jethro his intentions.

In the absence of the two of them, Hollis shook her head and decided to risk booting up Jethro's computer and checking her email. Lani owed her a message.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"So what did you want to ask me?" Jethro asked bluntly as he headed toward Jason's hotel.

"Do you love my sister?" Jason asked, just as bluntly.

"Yes."

"She loves you."

"I know."

"Okay...so what are your intentions?"

Jethro smiled. "You're her brother, not her father...and she's been an adult for a long time."

"I'm the closest thing she's ever had to a father, and I'm not joking. Hollis takes things seriously, particularly relationships. Marriage means a lot to her. If she's happy enough with you to stay with you this long...she means business and the only reason she hasn't insisted is because she loves you, but if you want to stay with her, why not marry her?"

Jethro slowed to a stop at a light. He considered. On the one hand, it was none of Jason's business that he'd already anticipated this next step...but on the other, he was clearly concerned for his sister and it would be easier if he just knew already. He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and held it out without speaking.

Jason took it, his brow furrowing slightly...until he opened the box and saw the ring.

"Why not just say it?"

"Would have already asked her but your father died. I had it all planned. Didn't seem right to do it now."

Jason gave back the box. "Best laid plans of mice and men... I wouldn't be surprised if Dad planned it this way, just one more turn of the screw."

"That's what Hollis said."

"We all feel the same way to varying degrees. I think even Marty would admit to it if pressed. He's the youngest."

"Haven't met him."

"You give that ring to Holly and you'll be hard-pressed to avoid him," Jason said with a grin.

"I'll keep that in mind," Jethro said dryly as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. "So would you have been this militant if we'd all been a bit younger?"

Jason's grin widened a bit. "If we were a bit younger, I might have threatened a shotgun wedding." He got out of the car and headed inside.

Jethro watched him leave and then shook his head with a smile.

When he got back home, he went inside and found Hollis asleep on the couch. He sat down across from her and watched her sleep...hoping all the while that he'd be able to give the ring to her soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The next morning, Hollis got up, borrowed Jethro's car and headed off to the lawyer's office with Jason. She hoped it wouldn't take long, but she smiled and said that Jethro could spend his free time being mysterious in the basement. He would be going back to work on Monday, and she would be planning the memorial service; so both of them wanted to get this done before the weekend.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Ms. Mann, Mr. Mann, you may go in."

Hollis and Jason stood up together and walked into the attorney's office.

"Hello, Ms. Mann, Mr. Mann. I'm John Woodard. Your father's will isn't particularly complicated, but we do need to go through it."

"That's fine," Jason said.

"Mr. Mann, as his eldest son, you've been named as executor."

"I figured."

The attorney seemed slightly unsettled by the calm, almost resigned nature of his clients, but he pressed on.

"Your father left a small amount of money to every member of his family, specifically to his children Jason, Mason, Joseph, Hollis, and Martin. His property is to be divided among you to be sold or else..."

"Excuse me," Hollis said. "Can I interrupt for a moment?"

"Of course."

"What if we don't want any of it?"

"Any of what?"

"Any of our inheritance. What if we don't want to inherit any of it?"

"Well, then it would be divided among the other chil–"

"And if _none_ of us wanted any of it?" Jason asked.

"Uh...is this a genuine question?"

Hollis looked at Jason who nodded and then looked back at the lawyer.

"Yes, Mr. Woodard," Jason said. "You probably aren't aware of it, but our father spent most of his life completely separated from us...not because of us, but because of _his_ choice. Hollis and I definitely have no interest in inheriting from him, and I'm sure I can speak for...all but one of my brothers in saying that they'll feel the same."

"Marty won't take anything if none of the rest of us do," Hollis murmured.

Jason smiled. "You're right. He wouldn't."

"Well, if you all refuse to inherit...that complicates things. Legally, we'll have to check to see if any relatives survive up to five times removed. If none can be found and no one wishes to inherit, the estate will revert to the possession of the mayor of DC and he'll be tasked with using the money for the benefit of the poor. That's the law...but it will take months...and be pretty expensive."

Hollis smirked a little. "Won't hurt _you_, will it."

"Hollis," Jason said in a warning tone. "So...what if we decided to simply take our inheritance and donate it to some other cause?"

Mr. Woodard looked sideways at Hollis but answered Jason. "That's easy enough. Choose a cause, I can help dispose of the property...but in order to do that, you'll have to get their signatures showing that they agree to relinquish any claim on the estate."

Jason nodded. "We'll have to tell Marty, then."

Hollis _tsk_-ed slightly but, in reality, they'd both known that Marty would have to be told at some point.

"They can do it via notary and have the letter sent to my office if they can't or aren't willing to make the trek here. I'm assuming they're not nearby?"

"No. We're pretty well spread out. We'll make the calls. Can we come back Monday morning?"

"Of course. You think you can do it all that quickly?"

"Yes. It'll just be a matter of either having them come out or having a notary public do it."

"Do you have a charity in mind?"

"We'll figure one out," Jason said.

"One that helps children," Hollis said instantly.

"I can compile a list if you'd like."

"Yes, thank you. See you on Monday."

They stood up, shook the lawyer's hand and then left.

"Who's going to call Marty?" Hollis asked.

"You know it's going to be me, Holly," Jason said with a grim smile. "But I'll let _you_ call Mason...and Joey."

Hollis laughed. "You think Marjorie won't throw a gasket if it's me calling?"

"No, but I think Joey might listen to you rather than the screeching in his other ear."

"Poor Joey."

"Poor Marjorie. She didn't ask to be homebound. Joey thinks they're going to get her to accept therapy soon. The mugging was really bad."

"I know. It's not that I'm not sympathetic."

Jason smiled and put an arm around Hollis.

"That's why she likes you. You're sympathetic without being...cloying."

"Me? Cloying?"

"Exactly. You're not that way. She liked Mom for the same reason."

"She wasn't homebound when Mom was alive."

"But Mom was never cloying either...not even when Marjorie was so stressed out about her first kid. She was really good for Marjorie...and so are you."

"Ha. Flattery will get you nowhere, but I'll call Joey and Mason."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They went back to Jason's hotel room to make the calls. There was a king-sized bed, a fireplace and a little sitting area.

"Wow. You got a nice room, Jason."

Jason grinned. "Best one...and the only one they had available last minute. I told Jill it was her fault."

Hollis laughed and pulled out her phone.

"Who's going to get done first? Me or you?"

"You. I hope Daralyn's home. It'll make this a lot easier." He sighed and started to dial.

Hollis dialed Mason's number first, hoping that Mason answered, not Lorraine. She could call his cell phone, but then, Lorraine might think she was being subversive.

"_Mann's. This is Mason."_

"Oh, good. Hi, Mason."

"_What is it, Hollis?"_

"Got to talk to you about Dad."

"_I have nothing to say. I'm not coming."_

"You have to do something, Mason."

"_Why?"_

"Because Dad left you some stuff. If you don't want it, you have to make an official declaration that you're refusing your inheritance."

Hollis looked over at Jason. He rolled his eyes and then focused his eyes elsewhere.

"Hi, Daralyn. It's Jason. I need to talk to Marty. He there? ...yeah, I need you stick around."

"_I don't want it...as you know. What do I have to do?"_

"Either come here and sign a form or get a notary public to witness it and send it over here."

There was a lengthy silence. Hollis listened with half an ear to Jason.

"Yeah, Marty. I know. It's a shock...yeah."

"_Hollis?"_

She refocused on her own conversation.

"Yeah?"

Mason sighed. _"When do I need to be there?"_

Hollis widened her eyes in surprise...no, in shock. "You're coming?"

"_Yeah. I'll come. It'll be easier. When?"_

"We're going back to the lawyer on Monday...and we'll see if we can get the memorial service on Tuesday."

"_I'll come Sunday night. Lorraine will hate it, but she'll be glad to know that Dad's dead. She won't come."_

"I would have been even more shocked if _she_ had...but I'm plenty surprised _you_ are."

"_Yeah, well, you never know."_

"Does that mean you'll come to the memorial service, too?"

"_Don't push it."_

"Okay. I won't."

"_Your boyfriend going to be there?"_

"Don't know. He has to go back to work next week...but I'm going to meet his father this next weekend."

"_Wow. Really? I guess he has a real one?"_

"Yep. Runs a small-town store."

"_Sounds...nice."_

"Yeah. See you. Call me when you get in."

"_Will do. You want to tell Lorraine?"_

"No way. She hates me enough as it is."

"_Not you...just what you represent."_

"I know...but you tell her. She loves you."

Mason laughed and said good-bye. Hollis let out a breath. That had been more painless than she expected. Time to call Joey. This could be easy or hard. Marjorie had her days. Everyone tried to treat her more or less the same, but the mugging she'd been involved in five years ago had resulted in severe agoraphobia and an intense attachment to Joey. He could barely leave the house to get groceries without her getting worried. They'd got to the point that, as long as someone else was with her, he could go to work without a problem...but anything longer? That was risking a meltdown. He'd be off work now, though, and she figured he'd be home.

She looked over at Jason...who was still talking to Marty.

"No, Marty. I haven't spoken to him. I promise. I don't know if he changed his mind about us."

Hollis smiled a little sadly. Poor Marty. He so desperately wanted things to be different than they were.

With a quick inhalation, she called Joey.

"_Hollis?"_

Hollis winced. "Hi, Marjorie. How are you?"

"_This house is a mess. Sophie's kids don't know how to take their shoes off. They drop their towels everywhere..." _There was a pause. _"I'll miss them when they leave."_

Hollis laughed. A good day for Marjorie. She was always happiest when complaining about the lack of cleanliness of her grandchildren.

"I'm sure. Is Joey around?"

"_Somewhere."_

Wow. A _really_ good day if she didn't instantly know where he was. It was almost a shame to ruin it. Maybe she could prime the pump by giving some gossip.

"_Lucas! Go and get your grandfather! How are you doing?"_

"I'm good. I'm in DC."

"_With Jethro?"_

"Yes."

"_How are things going on that front?"_

"I'm...meeting his father next weekend."

"_Wow! Really? That's wonderful!"_

"I'm hoping it will be."

"_It will. I'm sure of it. Oh...here's Joey. Must have been close by. It's your sister."_

Hollis heard the phone get passed to her brother.

"Hey, Joey. Marjorie sounds really great."

"_It's been really good. Sophie's here with her kids. Simone's coming on the weekend to stay for a while. I've even got Nathaniel and Blanche coming. Benjamin can't get here until Wednesday, but we're going to try and have a little family reunion." _His voice lowered. _"Part of it is going to try and get Marjorie to see a therapist finally. She's been a lot more relaxed. She even answered the door last week."_

"That's great...which means I'm sorry about what I'm about to tell you. It's going to throw some cold water on things...but I hope not too much."

"_What?"_

"Dad died...a few days ago. I'm in DC getting things straightened out."

"_Dad was in DC?"_

"Yeah. For twenty years. Jason knew."

"_Wow. And he died? Of what?"_

"A mugging. You don't have to tell Marjorie that."

"_Don't worry. I have no intention of sharing that particular tidbit. I may even lie about it. What do you need? Some help?"_

"Jason's here. Jill kicked him out of her hospital room."

Hollis looked over at that and saw Jason hang up his phone and stick out his tongue at her.

_Very mature,_ she mouthed at him.

"_So if you're there and Jason is there, things are getting taken care of. What do you need from me?"_

"Dad left everyone something. None of us want to keep it...unless you do."

"_Not a chance. Go on."_

"Well, in order for us to officially reject our inheritance, we have to sign a form to that effect. With Marjorie...I figured you could just get a notary public and then send it over."

"_No. I can't do that."_

"Yeah, you can. It's really okay, Joey. Mason is coming." She looked at Jason who nodded. "Daralyn and Marty are coming. Everyone knows what's going on with Marjorie."

"_If Mason is coming, that's a double reason why I need to be there. No way am I going to be the only Mann not present for this. We haven't all been in the same place at the same time in ages. _We_ need a family reunion...even if it's only because of Dad's unlamented death. Marjorie will have a hard time with it. I don't deny it, but with all the kids here, and with how well she's been doing, this is the perfect time to try it."_

"We're going to the lawyer on Monday."

"_Good. That will give me plenty of time to work with her and get everything settled. I'll be there, Hollis. With bells on. Don't even think about counting me out. Got it?"_

"Got it."

"_Good. Take care."_

"You, too. You can tell Marjorie that I'm sorry if it'll help."

"_It might. You rarely apologize for _anything_."_

"Ha ha. Love you."

"_Love you, too."_

Hollis hung up.

"Marty's coming?"

"Yeah. He broke down a bit, but Daralyn was there and she's coming out with him."

"Good. Mason and Joey are both coming. Obviously, Lorraine and Marjorie aren't."

"Obviously. So...we'll all be here in DC. Funny the things that bring us together, isn't it? Mom dying. Dad dying...and not because we care about him...just because we want nothing to do with him."

"Did you get Marty to admit that?"

"Kind of. Didn't press the point. Not worth it right now. Daralyn will lay it out to him straight...like she always does."

"What would we have done without her?" Hollis asked.

"Let Marty move in with you," Jason said, straight-faced.

"Not a chance, but thanks. So...what now?"

"Do you want to think about the memorial at all?"

"Not particularly. The only reason I was thinking of having anything at all was because of those neighbors who consider themselves Dad's friends. There might be some other people like that."

"Okay. Then, I'll spend my exciting weekend making sure that's all set up. You have the contact info for everything?"

"Yep. I'll send it to you. It's all on my phone."

"Good. You do that and I'll get everything ready. If we're lucky we can get Dad buried by Tuesday and then we can all forget about him."

"If we're lucky," Hollis repeated doubtfully.

"Holly, go and enjoy your weekend with Jethro. I don't want to hear from you until Sunday night when the siblings descend upon DC."

"You sure about that?" Hollis asked. She smiled but she was serious.

"Absolutely. Go."

"You don't have to tell me twice...but if you need any help, call me. Really."

"I will. Unlike _you_, I know when to ask for help."

Jason made a shooing motion and Hollis held up her hands in surrender and then left. She drove back to Jethro's house and went inside.

"Jethro!" she called.

As she had suspected, he came up from the basement. When she saw him, she felt a sudden surge of affection for him and hugged him tightly.

"I have the weekend off. What are we going to do?"

Jethro smiled. "I have a few ideas."

Hollis kissed him. "Good. Tell me."

He returned her kiss and she was more than happy to forget about all her other problems for a couple of days.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The weekend was _far_ too short, as far as Hollis was concerned. She didn't know how Jethro felt about it, but for her, she had very little interest in getting back to the business of burying her father.

On Sunday night, the Manns had gathered at Jason's hotel room to talk about things and get everything scheduled. After some thinking and consultations with their father's neighbors, Jason had decided against a traditional funeral and even against a traditional memorial service. Instead, there would be an open viewing at the funeral home on Tuesday when anyone who wanted to could come and pay their last respects. Then, their father would be buried without anything but the briefest ceremony. Marty had looked as though he would protest, but in the end, had stayed quiet, agreeing to what the others chose. The decision was made. The announcement was in the paper, and Jason told Ginny and Hector who promised to let Carl's other friends know about it...not that he had many.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Monday morning..._

"I'll trade you," Hollis said. "You go to the lawyer with my brothers and I'll go to work and lead your team."

Jethro smiled and sipped at his coffee.

"Don't you smirk at me. You know this is the last thing I want to do with my day."

"Second to last."

"What's the last, then?"

"Going to his funeral?"

Hollis sighed. "You're right. I get to do _that_ tomorrow. Mason and Marty want to meet you, though, before they head back to their lives. You up for getting grilled by the rest of the Mann men?"

Jethro laughed. "Are they as protective as Jason?"

Hollis rolled her eyes. "No. Marty _definitely_ isn't. Mason might give you a hard time, though...if nothing else than as an outlet for how uncomfortable he feels about being here. He actually agreed to stay for the service tomorrow. ...and you've already met Joey."

"The peacemaker."

"Exactly."

"I can deal with that." He considered once more. "Invite them over for dinner tonight."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Get it all over with at once."

Hollis laughed. "You sure you're ready for that?"

"I can handle it...unless you want to have family only."

"Nope. I'm only thinking of you."

"Then, invite them and if they're interested, I'll see them tonight."

"Sounds like a plan. Bye." She headed for the door. "You sure you don't want to trade me?"

"Positive. Go."

Hollis laughed and went off to her next meeting.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

John Woodard let the whole clan into his office and then decided that it was too small and led them to a conference room. When they were all seated, he explained the situation to them as he had to Hollis and Jason the week before. If he was surprised at the lack of emotion in the room, he didn't express it.

When he had finished laying out the plan as decided by Jason and Hollis, he told them all that Jason, as executor, would have all the estate consolidated in an account for him and, through the law office, he would make the donation.

"Here's a list of certified charities. There's a mix of both local and federal...as well as international."

They all got their copies and looked at the programs the lawyer had compiled. They looked through the list and then looked at each other, all smiling, knowing that their eyes had fallen on the same one.

"Big Brothers/Big Sisters," Hollis said and looked at Jason...who just shook his head and looked a little uncomfortable.

"Perfect," Joey said.

Marty just nodded.

"You guys..." Jason began.

"Shut up, Jason," Mason said. "You know this is what it's going to be and you know why." He looked across the table. "Mr. Woodard, that's the program we want."

Mr. Woodard looked rather amused but he merely nodded.

"A very good program. It's been highly rated by the American Institute of Philanthropy, one of the best rated programs for youth development."

"Good," Hollis said. "That's what we want."

"It's better than just keeping it for ourselves," Marty said quietly. "Might as well get some good out of Dad's selfishness."

Jason looked at Marty...and then at Mason, waiting to see if Mason's tactlessness would come out and make things worse...but Mason surprised everyone (perhaps even himself).

"Something good did come out of it, Martin," he said.

"What's that?" Marty asked, clearly challenging him.

"All of us."

"Worth it?"

Mason smiled and slugged Marty on the arm.

"I think so."

"Wow, Mason, I'm shocked," Jason said.

"Just the sentimentality of the moment. Don't get used to it," he said. "So...Mr. Woodard, is there anything else we need to do here?"

"Not a thing. I've got your witnessed signatures and a decision on the charity. I'll get everything set up. There will be some taken out for my fees, but the house itself should bring in a decent amount. As for his material possessions..."

"We'll take care of things that won't have any value to anyone else," Jason said quickly. "But we'll box up his clothes and computer and stuff like that and give it to Goodwill or the Salvation Army."

"All right. I'll get everything in motion on his home and other assets."

They all stood up, shook Mr. Woodard's hand and then left the office.

"How much do you think he'll be taking out of all this hoo-ha?" Mason asked.

"More than he needs to, I'm sure," Jason answered, "but it's worth it just to have it taken care of by someone who knows all the ins and outs of this business. Since none of us saw fit to become lawyers ourselves."

"So, what now?" Joey asked. "My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon, but it seems a shame not to do something together that's happier than planning this stuff."

"I have a suggestion," Hollis said. "Actually, it wasn't mine. It was Jethro's."

"Oh?" Mason asked, with raised eyerows. "What's that?"

"He suggested that you all come over to his place for dinner tonight. You interested?"

"Can he cook?" Mason asked.

"When the situation calls for it."

"He wants to meet us?" Marty asked. "Just how serious is this, Hollis?"

"No wedding bells as yet, Marty," Hollis said. "We're going to visit his dad this weekend."

Marty looked disappointed. "When are you two going to get married?"

"Don't know, but believe me, I'll let you all know if he asks."

"You could ask," Marty said. "It's not like you've ever been particularly shy, Hollis."

Hollis laughed. "That wouldn't work in this case, Marty...and don't grill him about it tonight."

"All right. All right. Daralyn welcome?"

"Of course."

"Then, I'm all in."

"Of course," Joey said. "He's being pretty generous."

"He figures you're all old enough not to eat very much," Hollis said with an impudent grin.

"Then, he doesn't know the Manns very well. We're manly Mann...men," Jason said, flexing his arms.

"I'll warn him. For now, however...how about we get rid of Dad's junk?"

"What a pleasant afternoon task," Mason said sarcastically.

"It has to be done, and I'm not doing it by myself," Hollis said. "If we work on it together, it won't take very long."

"All right. All right. I'll help out."

"Good," Jason said. "Marty, why don't you see if Daralyn wants to help out?"

Marty smiled in acknowledgment of what Jason actually meant and pulled out his phone. They headed for the car Jason had rented and then drove over to the home of the late Carlton Jepson.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro listened to the reports he was being given with only half an ear. This case wasn't particularly complicated, mostly an issue simply because it involved some high-ranking people who knew what strings to pull. The MCRT really didn't need to be investigating a basic theft...even if it _was_ the theft of a rather large and ornate (and ugly) statue. It really seemed more like a joke gone horribly awry than it did a serious attempt to rob the home of a retired admiral.

"So we think that Massey'll crack if we can just get him into interrogation," Tony said.

"He definitely knows something," Ziva added. "Even if he was _not_ involved in the actual theft, it is clear that he is aware of some of the details."

Jethro nodded. "Bring him in. McGee?"

"Yeah, Boss. Like you thought, no chatter behind the scenes. No one is trying to move something big. And I heard back from the auction house; the statue isn't even that valuable. Despite what the admiral said, intrinsically, it's worth very little."

"Which begs the question: why are _we_ looking into this?" Tony asked, sounding aggrieved. "I mean, it's not like we don't have better things to do with our time than trying to find some dog-ugly statue. Based on the pictures, the admiral should _thank_ whoever took it."

Tim suppressed a chuckle and they all looked at the image on the plasma. Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld.

"Do you think he named it Fluffy?" Ziva asked, grinning.

Tim's ability to hold back the laughter was weakening. In a moment, Jethro knew he'd start laughing and feel embarrassed that he was laughing about a crime...a ridiculous crime, but a crime nonetheless.

"Boss, aren't you glad that you're back at work, looking for a wayward puppy?" Tony asked, with a sidelong glance at Tim.

That was it. Tim definitely had the giggles. Jethro rolled his eyes.

"Don't you have something to do, DiNozzo?"

Tony just grinned, clearly feeling a sense of triumph at getting Tim to laugh. All day, he had been serious, saying that they had a responsibility to find the stolen property, but they could all see that he wanted to bust a gut at the admiral's choice of decor. Both Tony and Ziva had been trying all kinds of off-the-wall remarks to get Tim to start laughing. Finally, they had succeeded.

"Yeah, Boss. We're gone."

Tim was trying (unsuccessfully) to stop laughing, especially now that he was left alone with his boss. Jethro just smiled.

"You done, McGee?"

"Trying...Boss."

Jethro sighed. "Go and see if Abby's got any hits on the fingerprints yet."

"Yes...Boss."

Tim gratefully hurried away, and as the elevator doors closed, he caught one burst of laughter...all the louder for the previous attempts at suppressing it.

Was he glad to be back at work? Yes.

Was he glad for a few minutes away from his team who was clearly taking this case to ridiculous extremes? Absolutely.

He was happy to answer the phone when it rang.

"Gibbs."

"_Hi, Jethro. How's work?"_

Jethro smiled. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. How's it going?"

"_We're about done cleaning out Dad's house. That means that, with the viewing tomorrow, we'll have nothing else to do. Jason will have to sign the final form donating all of Dad's estate to the charity, but beyond that, we can all forget him and go back to our lives."_

"Tonight?"

"_If it'll still work for you, dinner's on. And I hope you're ready for us all."_

Jethro smiled again. "I'm ready."

"_Is this going to be an instance of you cooking or more takeout?"_

"Anyone in your family vegetarian?"

"_Are you kidding? If they were they'd never admit to it."_

Jethro laughed. "Okay. Then, I can cook."

"_No cases taking your time?"_

"None that'll keep me here late."

"_Great. I'll be glad to get back."_

Jethro looked around. No one was nearby.

"I'll be glad to see you."

"_I love you, Jethro."_

Again, he looked around.

"I love you, too."

"_Safely alone, are you?"_ Hollis asked, laughter in her voice.

"See you tonight."

Jethro smiled and hung up. Idly, he looked at the calendar.

Wasn't it Friday yet?

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro stopped at a store and bought some steaks, something he was sure he wouldn't mess up. He had called Hollis before leaving to suggest that she pick up something for side dishes...and that was an area where he'd bow to her greater expertise. She'd scoffed at that, but agreed. When he got back home, Hollis was there alone.

"Where are your brothers?"

"I told them to give us a chance to get everything ready. I figured you might like to have a chance to reclaim your turf before they descend."

Jethro grinned and went out back to start the grill...only to find that Hollis had done it already. It was hot and waiting for him. As he started cooking, Hollis leaned against the back door and watched him.

"Outside or inside?" she asked.

"Either works for me."

"Do you have enough chairs or should we plan on sitting on the ground?"

"You've been here before. You know what I have."

"No preferences?"

"None."

"Okay. Outside. Then, when the hot air starts being blown around, it'll all rise into the atmosphere."

"Global warming?"

"I'm happy to do my part."

Jethro laughed and focused on the grill. Before long, he heard male voices, all of similar timbre. The brothers had arrived.

Jason came out first.

"Evening."

Jethro nodded.

"Nice of you to feed us tonight."

"You'd all be meeting me eventually. Easiest to get it over with all at once."

"So you think now," he said and returned to the house.

Jethro just smiled and turned over the steaks. Three of the brothers came out with chairs. Then, Jason and Hollis came out with a table. They set it all up and put the food out. By the time the steaks were done, there was a full spread, and the Manns were proving that silence was not part of their genetic inheritance.

"Steak's done," he said and added the plate to the table.

They all settled in their seats and began to dish up the food. At first, the conversation was mainly about what they'd been doing that day. Then, as the meal went on, Hollis began talking to Joey, Jason and Daralyn about Marjorie...leaving Mason and Marty to focus their attention on Jethro.

"Good steaks. Worth sticking around for," Mason said.

"Thanks."

"How long before you retire?" he asked.

"Don't know. Haven't really thought about it."

"Neither have I...but I'm not a federal agent. Don't you feel a bit older than others?"

Jethro smiled. "Sure, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to be put out to pasture. What do _you_ do?"

"You ever get into archery?"

"Not really."

"Well, you ever shot a bow and arrow?"

"Sure."

"Nowadays, most archers have a little doohickey they use to pull back the arrows. It saves their fingers and the arrows. I make the best ones in the country."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Jethro raised an eyebrow. "And you make a living doing that?"

Mason looked around. "Better than you do, I think."

"Mason came up with a new design that a lot of archers like. So they come to him. He makes them for the big names and that helps," Marty put in.

"I'll take your word for it." He looked over at Marty and raised an eyebrow in query.

"Oh, I'm nothing exciting like that. Just a teacher. Those who can't do, teach."

"And Mr. Mann here gets more thank-you cards from his students than the rest of the teachers in the county...put together," Mason said.

"I do not," Marty protested, rolling his eyes.

"I've seen your basement. You have to have a whole room just for grateful students."

Marty laughed, but Jethro could see what made the Mann family special. They had a special bond. Complete loyalty to each other. If the worst happened and the world was aligned against them, they'd band together and take the whole world on if necessary. They teased and joked...but would instantly stick up for each other.

That was why they disliked their father's actions so much and what Carlton had chosen had probably led to this deep bond.

Suddenly, Daralyn came over and plopped down.

"So...how is it that you can tolerate a woman who could kick your butt?" she asked, arching an eyebrow expressively.

"Daralyn!" Marty said in surprise.

"What makes you think I couldn't fight back?" Jethro asked.

"You could...but you wouldn't...not unless you had to."

"Well...Holly won't kick my butt unless I deserve it. So I think I'm safe."

Daralyn looked at him speculatively and then looked at Hollis.

"He's all right, Hollis. I think you can stick with him."

Hollis rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Dar. I appreciate your approval."

As the evening continued, Jethro found himself talking more...mostly out of self-preservation. Every time the conversation lagged, one of the Manns would take it upon himself to ask a question. If the conversation continued, he didn't have to worry about a never-ending series of queries. However, by the time the sun set and the older Manns were ready to go, he had told them about his family, his marriages, some of his earlier experiences as an agent...even some of the broad strokes of the case that day. They just had a way of drawing out conversation. They all talked about themselves as well, and Jethro felt that he knew quite a bit about the Mann family and about Hollis just from this one night.

Finally, Hollis declared the evening over.

"All right. Stop talking," she said. "I'm tired and we have to be ready for the viewing tomorrow. I'm exercising my rights as hostess to end the conversations."

Jason laughed and stood up. "If you didn't, I'd probably fall asleep."

"Oh, poor old man," Mason said. "We'd get you home and safe in your bed...in your luxury hotel room."

"Hey, my wife kicked me out. The least I could do is get a nice room out of the deal."

Joey laughed and then paused when his phone rang. He sighed when he looked at the caller ID.

"Marjorie?" Hollis asked.

"Yeah. I'd better take this outside, Hollis. See you tomorrow."

Jason shook his head. "I'd hoped that this wouldn't happen."

"You're sure she'll be having trouble?" Daralyn asked.

"Joey said that he'd promised to call every night. If she's calling him, it's because she can't wait." Jason leaned over and kissed Hollis on the cheek. "See you in the morning."

"Right."

Marty and Daralyn said their farewells and then dragged Mason out before he could make any last lewd comments. Hollis saw them all safely away and then went back.

"How was it?" she asked.

"I see where you get it."

"Get what?"

"Pretty much everything."

"Is it tolerable?" she asked.

Jethro smiled and pulled her close. "More than tolerable." Then, he let her go. "I've got some work to do in the basement. Don't wait up."

"When do I get to see it?"

"When it's done."

"All right. All right." She kissed him lightly. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Your snoring?"

Hollis slugged him. "Careful or you'll deserve to have your behind kicked."

"Promise?"

"Oh, don't start. Mason is having a bad effect on you."

Jethro just grinned.

"Good night, Jethro."

She walked away and up the stairs. Jethro enjoyed watching her walk. Then, he went down to the basement...and took up the headboard. It was elaborate, but he thought it would work out.

He worked for a couple of hours and then went up to bed. When he lay down beside Hollis, she snuggled against him but didn't wake up. He put his arms around her and went to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The viewing/memorial service ended up being as uneventful as they could have wished. None of them got weepy. Carl's few friends showed up but didn't seem surprised at the lack of ceremony. Ginnie and Hector came and stayed the entire time, but Hollis got the sense that it was to be some sort of moral support for the family rather than out of any real connection to Carl.

The only worrisome moment came when Mason was forced to talk to one of Carl's friends. He got irritated and excused himself rather abruptly from the conversation, leaving Jason to explain that Mason had...issues. Joey went after Mason and didn't come back for about twenty minutes.

Finally, they ended the viewing. Mason flat-out refused to come to the grave and no one felt it was worth pushing for. Instead, the other four drove to the cemetery and watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground. There was a brief prayer, but none of them were particularly religious, and they had no idea if their father had been. Clearly, he wasn't Catholic, at least not in practice.

Then, it was over. Hollis and three of her brothers, plus Daralyn, walked away from the cemetery. Only Marty showed any sign of remorse...and at that, his was pretty mild considering what it could have been. Daralyn had stayed beside him the whole time. When they reached the entrance to the cemetery, Mason was standing there.

"Hey," he said.

Jason looked at him for a second and then just nodded. "It's all right."

No one else spoke. They just headed out, ready to leave their father behind. They went for lunch and talked about what everyone was doing. Joey told them that Marjorie was having some problems with him being gone but that she had agreed that he needed to stay until all was taken care of. ...but Joey was eager to get back to her.

"So...that's it?" Joey asked.

"Seems like it," Mason said. "Can I say it? Just once."

"If it'll make you feel better," Jason said.

"Good riddance."

Hollis laughed a little and looked over at Marty.

"Don't look at me," Marty said. "I'm keeping my mouth shut."

"You don't have to."

"Yeah, I do...because I know that what I want to say isn't actually the truth. It's just what I want to be true."

"What do you want to be true?" Hollis asked.

"That Dad really did care about us, that those stupid rocks he had meant something more than that he was stupid. ...but he had twenty years and never bothered. He must have known you were here, Hollis. He knew where Jason was. What's the point in thinking that there was a mistake? There was no mistake." Marty shook his head. "I just wish that there was."

"Yeah," Joey said softly. "Mason won't admit it, but I think we all wish that there was a mistake somewhere."

Mason rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know about you all, but my flight is leaving in a few hours. I still need to check out and I don't want to miss my flight."

"I _can't _miss mine," Joey said. "Marjorie won't last another day."

Hollis smiled. "Thanks for coming...all of you. It really has been too long."

"Well...if you get married, Hollis..." Mason said suggestively.

"I'll let you know."

"We'll all be there...just to have proof that it's really happening."

"Thanks. You keep acting like that and we'll elope to Monte Carlo."

"Whatever happened to Vegas?" Jason asked.

"We're too old for Vegas."

They all laughed and then hugged each other and said good-bye, promising that it wouldn't take a death to bring them all together again. Then, they went their separate ways. Hollis went back to Jethro's house, happy enough, although what Marty said was still in her mind. She hadn't said anything, but she felt much the same way. Her reaction to the truth had been anger rather than despair, but she had wanted the truth to be something other than it was.

When she walked into the kitchen, she smiled to herself. She could cook this once. It would make it feel more like this was her house, too. It would be more like a home and less like a place she was staying. When Jethro was there, she felt like she belonged, but when she was alone...it was just a building.

There was nothing for cooking, really. She shook her head at the contents of Jethro's kitchen. He was _such_ a bachelor. Then, she laughed and went out to buy groceries.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"So...Boss?"

"What, DiNozzo?" Jethro asked, not looking up.

"Are you...you and Agent Mann–?"

Jethro looked up, giving Tony his absolute and full attention, widening his eyes slightly.

"What?"

"Tony wishes to know if you are going to marry Agent Mann," Ziva said with an evil grin at Tony. "He has been talking about it since you left."

"I have not!" Tony said quickly.

"Do you two not have enough to do?" Jethro asked.

"Well...we found the three-headed dog and took it back to its daddy," Tony said.

A smothered laugh from the region of Tim's desk. After his initial breakdown, he had lost any ability to control his laughter and Tony and Ziva were enjoying every opportunity of making Tim laugh, easy as it now was.

"He was very excited to have his little dog home again," Ziva said.

"It was ten feet tall!" Tony said.

"Okay, his _big_ dog."

Another snort of laughter. Jethro looked over at Tim who was steadfastly staring at his computer, trying to finish his report. He hadn't made it as far as he would have if the other two hadn't been there to continually give him the giggles.

"All right, that's enough. You two finish your reports...and no making McGee laugh until you're _all_ finished!" Jethro rolled his eyes. It was like teaching elementary school sometimes with these three.

"Yes, Boss," Tony said.

"Yes, Gibbs."

His only reply from Tim was a hurried throat-clearing.

When they were all back working on their reports, he took a moment to smile. No, this case hadn't really needed them, but it was actually kind of nice to have a simple one to solve. It would make going home so much nicer later on. Not that Hollis would have a problem if he'd been preoccupied with a serious case, but with all that she'd been dealing with, he didn't want to give her anything else to worry about.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro opened the door and smiled. It had been a long time since he'd come home to the smell of a meal cooking. Hollis had cooked occasionally, but most of the time, it had been while they were both there. It was almost like...coming home.

"Holly?"

"I haven't burned anything. I promise!"

Jethro chuckled and walked into the kitchen.

"What are you making?"

Hollis looked around at the mess she'd made.

"Let's see...some sort of blackened salmon from a recipe I got from my sister-in-law. Then, callendarinie noodles which are so incredibly bad for you that they have to taste good. ...and broccoli."

"Broccoli?" Jethro asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I figured we'd have one thing that's masquerading as healthy."

Jethro walked over to her and hugged her from behind.

"How was the viewing and everything?"

"Something I'm glad to have over with," Hollis said. "Dinner's almost ready if you'll trust me not to kill us both."

"I trust you."

"Good." She turned around and kissed him...and then pulled back quickly. "Oh, no. I'm not going to burn this sauce. If I'm cooking, it's going to turn out right. So...go and do something that won't distract me."

Jethro grinned and then went and set the table.

Dinner was ready a few minutes later and he could tell that Hollis was relieved it all turned out well. He could also see that she wasn't as blase about her father as she was acting. For the moment, though, he was content to let her pretend.

It was a nice evening, and they went to bed early.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro woke up in the night and rolled over, surprised to find Hollis' side of the bed empty. He got up and walked down the stairs. He saw her outside, sitting on the patio. Quietly, he opened the door and sat down beside her. He could see the tears on her cheeks. He didn't say anything. He just put an arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. They just sat together out in the backyard. Then, Hollis sighed.

"We threw the rocks away. Not even Marty wanted his."

"Makes sense."

"It was so easy to get rid of everything he owned. All of ten people showed up to say good-bye. It didn't bother me. It was almost a comfort to know that he made as few connections with other people as he made with his family."

Jethro said nothing, letting her get it all out.

"I've hated him for years. I ignored his existence for years. I wanted nothing more than to get him buried so that I could go back to that perspective. ...and now I'm crying. I'm worse than Marty. At least, he's consistent."

Jethro smiled a bit.

"Nothing wrong with being inconsistent."

"Something Marty said. He knew that there was no mistake in our interpretation of our dad, but he wished there was. I wish that there had been something different. I really wish that my father had been like I thought he was when I was a little girl."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"Thanks...but I'll be glad just to forget him."

"Ready to come back to bed?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Good. Come on."

Jethro stood up and held out his hand. Hollis smiled at the gesture and took his hand. He pulled her up and then kept hold of her hand as they went back inside. She held onto him tightly when they got back into bed. Jethro didn't go to sleep until she did. He just held her until he felt her relax.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The rest of the week passed uneventfully. There was work to be done, and Jethro did it. He suspected that Hollis had contacted Hettie and was doing some work herself during the day. Both of them were anxious for the weekend, but Jethro knew it wasn't for the same reasons. He felt like the ring was burning a hole in his pocket. ...but he also knew that she was really looking forward to meeting his dad.

In his spare time, he was finishing up the headboard. He liked it and he was pretty sure Hollis would, too.

By Friday, they were both chomping at the bit. Jethro actually ended up leaving early, giving everyone at NCIS a heart attack. He knew that they would be gossiping about what it meant. Still, he was ready to go.

Hollis was packed when he got back. She'd even packed _his_ clothes, too. So he smiled, tossed the bags in his car and they took off, headed for Stillwater.

As they drove, Jethro found that he was actually a little bit nervous.

He really hoped that they'd like each other.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Holly, we're here."

Hollis yawned and opened her eyes.

"This is it?"

"Yep."

She looked around. "It's not as small as I thought it would be. I mean, it's no metropolis, but this is a lot more than a bend in the road."

Jethro smiled. "Never said it was a bend in the road."

Hollis laughed and arched her back. "I know you didn't, but you implied it."

"Not my fault if you make assumptions."

"Right, right."

Jethro pulled up to the store.

"This is it?" she asked again.

"Yep."

"He's inside?"

"As long as it's open...and it is."

Hollis took a deep breath. "I'm suddenly nervous. It's no fair, you know."

"What isn't?"

"You never had to go through the stress of meeting _my_ parents."

"Well, that's not my fault, either."

Hollis slugged him.

"He's the person everyone likes to talk to, Holly...and he likes pretty much everyone. You'll be fine."

Jethro opened the car door and got out. Hollis sat for a moment longer and then followed suit.

"This looks like something from a story," she said. "You just don't get places like this much anymore."

"Well, there's wireless inside. Dad likes to keep up. Come on." Jethro held out his hand. Hollis took it and willingly let him lead the way. It wasn't that she really thought Jethro's father would be cruel or in any way unpleasant...but while she knew that this was likely just a reaction to her own family situation, she couldn't help worrying that she'd be letting Jethro down if his father didn't like her instantly...and she knew herself to be someone who didn't always rub people the right way.

A little bell jingled as they stepped inside.

"Be right with you!"

"Dad, it's us," Jethro said.

"You mean you came here first? Well, you might just give me a heart attack, Leroy!"

Before Hollis could think about hiding or presenting a confident demeanor, Jackson Gibbs came out from the back of the store. He walked over and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Jackson Gibbs. You can call me Jack. You must be Hollis."

"That's me," Hollis said, shaking his hand firmly to make up for the rather lackluster greeting.

"Got a strong grip there," he said, his eyes twinkling mischievously."You in the mood to help me stock shelves?"

"If that's what you need," Hollis said. "Never stocked shelves, but I think I can handle it."

"I'll bet you can. Actually, Leroy, why don't you go on and take your stuff to the house," he said, waving his free hand vaguely. "Hollis can keep me company." He patted her hand and winked.

Jethro rolled his eyes.

"Subtle, Dad," he said.

"Wasn't trying to be subtle. I was trying to get you out of the way so that I can have a chat with this lovely lady."

Hollis saw the twinkle in Jethro's eye...identical to his dad's.

"She's taken already," he said.

"A lady can change her mind," Jack retorted. "She might know quality when she sees it. Go on, son. We'll be fine."

"You all right with that, Holly?"

Hollis smiled. "I think I'll survive."

Jethro rolled his eyes again and headed out.

"Take your time, Leroy!" Jackson called after him.

The bell jingled again and Hollis found herself alone with Jethro's father.

"This place...it's...it looks ideal."

Jack looked around his store.

"I like it. So...tell me about yourself. I wish I could say that Leroy had talked incessantly about you, but he tends to keep things to himself...even on the best of days."

"Yeah, I know. There's not a whole lot to tell. I have four brothers. I was in the Army. I worked with your son. I retired...and got recruited for a job with NCIS in Los Angeles."

"Ah, don't tell me you're as taciturn as my son can be."

"No...not generally. I just don't know what to tell you," Hollis admitted. "I'm a little nervous."

"Nervous? You? No!" Jack protested. "You don't look like the kind of lady who would get nervous around a friendly old man like myself."

"I want to pass muster."

"If you've stuck with my son for this long, you've already passed every test you would need to pass," Jack said, but then he did get serious. "Why have you?"

Hollis smiled. That was easy. "Because I love him."

"Love isn't always enough, you know."

"Oh, I know. I don't have stars in my eyes. I know what Jethro is like, but he's made a lot of changes for me, and that's important. I've changed and he's changed."

Jack smiled and nodded. "Good answer. Leroy can be...a challenge. I know that better than most, but he's my son."

"I can tell," Hollis said. "You're a lot alike."

"You can see that in five minutes?"

"Doesn't take long," Hollis said. "Now, did you really want help stocking the shelves or was that just a ploy?"

"A ploy...but the shelves do need stocking. I normally do it myself, but it goes faster with help. Leroy told me about your father. I'm sorry."

"For what? That he's dead or that he was a deadbeat?"

"Both."

Hollis forced a smile. "Well...can't change either one, no matter how much I wanted to when I was younger."

"That why I make you nervous?"

"Maybe. I don't know for sure. I've never had a relationship last long enough to get to this point. Never met someone else's father."

"You're doing all right. ...and I may not know your father from Adam, but he's a right fool for not letting you get close."

That was a place Hollis wasn't ready to go. Not yet. She squared her shoulders. "Can't do anything about that now. Put me to work, Jack."

Jack nodded, accepting her deliberate change of topic. "All right. First thing's first..."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro dropped everything off in the bedroom and then he sat down and pulled the ring out of his pocket for the millionth time. He wanted this to work out perfectly...but he just wasn't sure what the best way to ask her would be. He'd had ideas...but now, he wasn't sure they would really work. Too romantic? Not romantic enough? He wasn't used to be so uncertain. He knew he loved Hollis and he knew he was finally ready to marry her. Beyond that? He didn't know what the best method would be.

He might just have to swallow his pride and talk to his dad about it...if he could contrive a time when Hollis wasn't around.

Instead of heading over to the store, Jethro went downstairs and started scrounging for a map of hiking trails in the area. He was tempted just to go back to the store, but his father had been pretty clear. He wanted some time to get to know Hollis by himself, without Jethro's sometimes-oppressive presence. He smiled to himself. Not that Hollis would be intimidated by him...but he _was_ surprised that she was still nervous about meeting his father. It wasn't as though Jack's blessing was needed...and it wasn't like he wouldn't give it anyway.

Finally, after half an hour, Jethro decided Jack had been given enough time and he headed back to the store. He paused and looked inside through the door. He could see Hollis putting out small boxes of various candies. Jack was sitting on a chair, smiling. Hollis turned her head and he watched as she started to laugh. Hollis didn't laugh outright very often. It had to be pretty funny to get a loud laugh out of her.

As he watched his girlfriend and his father interact, Jethro realized that this was one of the things that had told him that he loved Hollis. He liked just to look at her. She didn't have to be doing anything in particular. Watching her be herself was enough.

With a smile on his lips, Jethro went inside.

"Dad, I thought she was going to _help_, not do your job for you."

"The young have to help the old."

"Young?" Hollis asked with a twinkle in her eye. "I haven't been called young in a while."

"You're the youngest person in _this_ room," Jack said with a grin. "And certainly the best looking."

Hollis turned around and gave Jethro a frankly-evaluating glance...and then included Jack in her look.

"I don't know. You're both not bad."

"Not bad?" Jethro asked, arching an eyebrow.

Hollis chuckled and didn't elaborate.

"You want to help, Leroy? Many hands make light work."

"You could help, too, you know."

"Oh, I was. Hollis was just so insistent that she unpack the candy. I think she has an ulterior motive."

"Shh! You're going to spill my secret, Jack!" Hollis said with a side glance at Jethro.

Jack laughed and got to his feet.

"You ever want a change, Hollis, give me a call."

"I'll do that."

Jack headed into the back and Jethro picked up another box of candy.

"So?" he asked.

Hollis smiled. "I like him, Jethro. I think I may have passed."

"You'd passed before you ever got here," he said and kissed her quickly.

"I saw that!" Jack called.

Hollis laughed and kissed Jethro back.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she said in a low voice. "It's...so nice to see a real father."

Jethro didn't speak. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He held her until Jack came back out with more boxes to unload. The three of them worked together for another hour and then Jack declared the task finished...and shooed them out of the store, saying that he'd see them at dinner. Jethro showed Hollis around Stillwater a bit...but because so many of his memories were filled with anger...or involved Shannon, he was hesitant to spend too much time reminiscing.

It was Hollis who changed that.

"You met her here, didn't you?"

Jethro considered pretending he didn't know who Hollis was talking about...but then dismissed that as disingenuous. Hollis knew exactly how he felt about Shannon and Kelly. He guessed this was her way of nipping any possible awkwardness in the bud. It wasn't worth pussyfooting around a topic that would surely come up at some point.

"Not officially. That was at the train station."

Hollis smiled. "Unofficially?"

Jethro pointed at a shop window. "I saw her there, working the store."

"Did you come back here a lot?"

"Not often. Dad and I...we didn't get along too well. Shannon kept us in contact. After she...died..."

"What changed things? I didn't sense any tension between you."

"Isn't any now."

"So what changed it?" Hollis asked.

Jethro smiled self-deprecatingly. "Dad is a lot more forgiving than I am. Ran into him during a case a few years ago. We...patched things up. I grew up."

"Funny how time can do that."

"Like you and your mom?"

"Yeah. ...and my mom getting cancer. Unavoidable death seems to wipe away a lot of arguments that seemed really important before."

As they headed back toward Jack's house, Hollis suddenly looked up at Jethro.

"My mom would have liked you, Jethro."

Jethro smiled. "Why do you say that?"

"Because she would have said that you're the only man in the world who would put up with someone like me."

"And I would have said that meant I was lucky that no one else realized what they were missing."

Hollis grinned. "Flatterer...but I'll take it." She looked around. "You know...being here...I suddenly miss Lana'i."

"Too cold?"

"No. It's a slower pace of life than you find in DC or LA. People just aren't in the same kind of rush. It's nice...as long as you're not in it alone."

Jethro looked down at Hollis in surprise. She just smiled and shook her head. They continued on their way.

Hollis had the idea that they should cook dinner for Jack and Jethro decided to go along with it. As they made themselves at home in Jack's kitchen, he couldn't help but think about how strange and yet nice it felt to be cooking _with_ someone. Hollis was energetically chopping celery when Jethro looked over at her. She paused in her efforts and looked up.

"What is it, Jethro?"

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

Jethro nodded and went back to mixing the marinade.

It didn't take long to get dinner going. When Jack came home, he was pleasantly surprised by dinner waiting for him. ...or at least that's what he _said_, but it was hard to tell since he was so obviously happy about having Hollis there. After dinner, they talked together for a while, but then, Hollis claimed to be tired and went to bed early...leaving Jack and Jethro together.

"She habitually early to bed?" Jack asked.

Jethro smiled. "No. She wants to give us time alone...although she'll probably be asleep when I get up there."

Jack smiled. "So..."

"What?"

"I like her, Leroy. You picked a good one. What are you waiting for?"

"The right moment."

"You have to _make _the right moment, son. It's not just going to _happen_."

Jethro sighed and finally admitted it. "I don't know how to do it, Dad. I had plans before, but after her dad died...I just don't know how to do it, and I want it to be right."

"I think that whatever you do will be right...if you do it. Can I see?" he asked.

Jethro smiled and pulled out the ring box.

"You keep it in your pocket?"

"She'll find it otherwise."

Jack laughed. He opened the box and nodded appreciatively.

"It's nice."

"Thanks."

"Well, son, I'm not sure what to tell you to do. You know her better than I do...but I think you shouldn't keep putting it off. If you want me to make myself scarce, just say the word."

Jethro smiled. "I don't think that will be necessary."

"Well, if you want my advice, I'd say to do it soon." Jack got a mischievous look. "Otherwise, I'll step in and do it for you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Hollis had awakened when Jethro lay down beside her, but he didn't speak and neither did she. They both slept...but because Hollis had gone to bed so much earlier, she also woke up earlier. Significantly earlier.

Jethro was still asleep, and the sun wasn't even up yet; so Hollis carefully slid out of bed, grabbed her robe and padded softly out of the room. She assumed that she'd be the only one awake in the house; so she didn't worry about the fact that she was dressed only in her pajamas. After putting on the robe, she walked down the stairs, pulling her hair up out of her face as she went.

Jack's house wasn't very big; so she had no trouble finding her way around...to the kitchen. Jack had said to make herself at home, and although she still felt a bit awkward, she intended to take him at his word.

"Well, it's been quite some time since I had a pretty lady invading my kitchen at this hour of the morning."

Hollis spun around, startled by the voice.

"Good morning," Jack said, smiling easily. "You're up early."

"Went to bed early," she said. "Not used to it, and I don't make much of a habit of sleeping in."

Well, when you get old, you don't need as much sleep; so I'm awake this early every morning."

"I'll remember that," Hollis said, quickly tying the sash on her robe.

"Now, since we're both awake, would you be opposed to my asking some personal questions?"

Hollis smiled. "No...as long as you're ready for any reaction you might get from the personal questions."

"After Leroy's teenage outbursts...and his adult outbursts as well, I think I'm ready for whatever you might have to dish out."

"Okay. Fire away."

"Oh, not on an empty stomach. If you were coming in here, you had the same idea of snacking that I did."

"Just something simple."

"Exactly. I've got some pastries. Day-old, but they'll still taste good."

"Sounds good to me."

Jack pulled a small box out of a cupboard and gestured to the kitchen table. Hollis sat down.

"What's your pleasure, Hollis?" Jack asked. "I've got a bear claw, an apple fritter, a maple bar and a chocolate bar."

"I'll take the chocolate bar."

"Have at it," Jack said, taking the bear claw for himself.

Hollis took a bite and waited, but for the moment, Jack seemed content just to take a few silent bites. Hollis felt a bit awkward, but Jack seemed totally at ease.

"Okay, Hollis, you're not sure of me, are you?" Jack asked. His voice was anything but confrontational, but he was very serious.

Hollis knew she had to respond in kind. "It's not you, really. It's just the silliness of my own past. I'm fully aware that it's illogical."

"It's not silly."

"Yes, it is. My father was worthless as far as I'm concerned, but I had a mother I fought with, who loved me, and I still have four brothers. We're very close. I have a better family than a lot of people can say they have."

"But not a father."

"No. It's true. Actually, I wish I that I _didn't_ have a father. What I did have was worse than none at all."

Jack smiled. "So...you were worried about meeting some nebulous standard I might have had. Do I meet _your_ standards?"

Hollis laughed, although her throat was a little tight. "My standards for fathers are pretty low. You far exceed them. You love your son. You're there for him, even if he didn't take advantage of that. Jethro said that you were a lot more forgiving than he was. I think Jethro is very lucky to have a father like you."

Jack grinned and waved that away.

"All right, all right. You were in the Army?"

"Yes. Retired now."

"What took you there?"

Hollis grinned. "Rebellion against any kind of guidance from my mother. I was just lucky that it turned out to be the one place I fit in. Basic Training nearly killed me, and when I finished it, I realized that I was strong enough to be there, and more than that, the challenge of it was exhilarating. I had my moments of doubt, but never strongly enough to drive me away. Mom came to accept it, even if she always wanted me to get married and give her grandchildren. I'm sorry, now, that I couldn't ever do that for her."

"Never had any relationships?"

"None that stuck. None that seemed right...until Jethro." Hollis laughed self-consciously. "I moved a little fast for him...but that didn't drive him away."

"So what did?" Jack asked. "You moved away as I recall."

"Yes. I gave an ultimatum...and when Jethro didn't protest, I had to carry through on it. I left. I figured that he didn't want what I wanted. ...but turns out that he did."

"You're not put off by all his marriages?"

"No. We've talked about them. In fact, the only one he's uncertain about mentioning is Shannon...because that was his perfect life. That's not what I'm offering, but as long as he can love me for myself, not because I'm replacing Shannon, then, I don't have any problem with him still missing her. ...but I'm too proud to be a stand-in. I won't live in the past."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"Neither does Jethro. Not anymore."

"Marriage?"

Hollis took a deep breath and let it out. "Not yet. I'm not pushing for it...but if he ever asks me..."

Jack just smiled. "You'd be a welcome addition."

"Thanks."

"So what are your plans?"

"I don't know. If Jethro has anything in mind for today, he's not saying...which isn't all that strange."

"No. My son will never be accused of talking too much."

Hollis laughed. "Agreed." She held up the remains of her chocolate bar in a parody of a toast. Jack held up his bear claw and then they both finished their pastries.

"Well, we still have some time to kill. How about I do some stereotypical embarrassing of my son by showing you his baby pictures?"

"That sounds great! Bring 'em on!"

Jack stood up and offered his arm.

"Right this way, madame."

Hollis took it and walked with Jack to the living room.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When Jethro got up about half an hour later, Hollis was have a grand time looking at old photographs. Jack made coffee and they had a simple breakfast before heading to the store. He insisted that they stick around in the morning...and it seemed as though the entire population of Stillwater stopped in. They always thought of something to buy, but it was clear that first on their minds was confirming the rumor that Jethro had brought a woman to meet his father.

Hollis met a number of people...most of whom she'd forget within an hour, but she got more stories about Jethro's childhood. He actually stuck around for much of it and even talked a little...which shocked Hollis more than she'd admit. He seemed happy to show her off.

They paused for lunch and then Jack told them to go and entertain themselves. He gave a significant look at Jethro but said nothing else. Jethro told Jack not to expect them...and it was only luck that Hollis missed the delighted look on his face.

Jethro took Hollis out on one of the hiking trails in the area. It wasn't very hard, but it was long. It took them most of the afternoon to get to the top. Once they got there, they had a beautiful vista, a small valley spreading out below them. They sat on the edge and watched as the sun went down toward the horizon. There was no need to talk. Just being in each other's company was enough. ...but after an hour or two, the practical side of Hollis asserted itself.

"Shouldn't we be heading back?" she asked. "It's not safe to walk in the dark."

"We can wait until the morning."

Hollis smiled. "I'll be getting hungry."

"I brought food."

"All right. I might get cold."

"No, you won't."

"What about wild animals?"

"We've got a fire pit back there.

"You've thought of everything, then?"

"One of my rules. Anticipate."

Hollis laughed softly and scooted closer to him.

"This is beautiful, Jethro. After everything that happened this last week...I needed this."

"Feel better, then?"

"Better than better. This is wonderful. Thank you."

The sun fell lower in the sky and Jethro got out the food he'd brought for dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, just some sandwiches, a bottle of wine and a couple of pieces of pie for dessert. They ate on paper plates and drank from plastic cups. ...and to Hollis, it was better than the fanciest restaurant.

After dinner, they cleaned up everything, making sure they didn't leave any trash behind and then Jethro built a fire. Hollis helped build it up and control the flames. Then, they sat back again, enjoying the crackling and popping.

"This reminds me of the first time you said you loved me," Hollis said softly. "...if it's not too sentimental to say it."

Jethro smiled.

"I love you, Holly," he said.

Hollis snuggled closer to him.

"I love you, too."

This was it. The right moment. Jethro reached into his pocket. The ring was there as it had been for days. He pulled the small box out.

"I have something for you," he said.

"What's that? A blanket?"

"Well, that, too, but first things first."

"Okay. What is it?" Hollis asked.

Jethro was just going to give it to her, but then, he decided he should actually say the words. Hollis might not be willing to believe that he meant it if he didn't actually say it.

"Sit up for a sec."

Hollis sat up and turned around to face him. Her expression was slightly confused but nothing to indicate that she had the slightest idea what was coming. All the better.

He didn't get on his knee, but he leaned forward and opened the box. Then, he held it out.

"Holly...will you marry me?"

For just a moment, Hollis sat motionless. She didn't even react. Then, there was an incredulous smile. She let out a short breath, her eyes moving from the ring to his face and back again...clearly making sure this wasn't a joke. To her credit, she didn't ask him to repeat himself.

"Yes," she said softly. It was almost just an exhalation, hardly a word at all.

She reached out slowly and took the box from him. She looked at the ring and then smiled at Jethro.

"You going to put it on or just look at it?" Jethro asked.

Hollis' smile widened. She held out her hand and the box. "You do it."

Jethro took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

Jethro just smiled.

"How long have you been planning this?" she asked.

"The hike? Just this morning. The ring? I was ready to ask you a couple of weeks ago."

Hollis nodded in understanding. "And my dad died. Jethro...I..." Her words trailed off to nothing. She just looked at him for a moment and then grabbed him and kissed him passionately.

"I love you, Jethro. I love you," she said.

"I love you, too, Holly."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Morning, when it came, was lovely. Cold, but lovely. The fire had burned down to little more than ashes...but Jethro seemed to be a blast furnace all by himself and with the blanket over them both, Hollis was very comfortable.

She moved only enough to look at her left ring finger...and the ring now glittering there. It was almost unreal. She had, more or less, resigned herself to the fact that marriage wasn't in the cards for her. She loved Jethro and wanted to be with him, but she really had wanted to be married to him, not just living with him. She knew all too well, from personal experience, that there was no guarantee someone would stay when you just had to depend on him staying. ...of course, Jethro knew, also from personal experience, that marriage didn't mean a person would stay either. ...but she loved seeing that ring on her finger.

Jethro had picked it out himself without any input from her, and she liked that. A total and complete surprise.

_I guess I'm lucky we weren't both older. It might have given me a heart attack,_ Hollis thought to herself with amusement.

It was a beautiful ring.

As she looked around at her surroundings, she thought about what Jethro must have been like as a young man...so many years ago. Would the man that he had been have felt any attraction to the young woman _she_ had been? Likely not. From what she knew of Shannon, they were as unalike as night and day. Hollis knew that she had been much more like Jethro. Angry, bitter, wanting to reject reality of unhappy events and things out of her control. No, it was probably best that she and Jethro had only crossed paths later in life, when the elements which had led to such anger had been resolved to some degree. Their mutual anger probably would have poisoned any relationship formed.

The sun peeked over the horizon, filtering through the trees, sending out little fingers of light. Hollis smiled at the sight and raised her hand just enough that the diamond caught the rays and glittered.

"You'd better not lose that. It was expensive."

Jethro's voice was low enough that she mostly _felt_ his words rather than heard them. She grinned.

"You got it measured exactly for my hand. It's not coming off."

"No morning-after second thoughts?"

"Not a one." Hollis settled back against Jethro and watched the sun silently as it rose through the trees.

"We'll have things to talk about, you know."

"Oh, I know. But we won't solve them in one sitting. Let's set them aside for a little while. We can talk. We _will_ talk. Not now."

"All right. Back in DC?"

"Yeah."

Hollis knew that there would be simple logistical problems to deal with, but for now, she just wanted to be happy about being engaged. Her mother would have been so happy to know that her daughter was finally getting married...as she never had the chance to. Hollis took a deep breath of the mountain air and let it out slowly.

"Breakfast?" Jethro asked softly.

"Thought you'd never ask. What are we having? ...besides coffee."

"Not much. Just enough to get us back down."

"Okay. I'll get the wood?"

Jethro nodded and set about rekindling the fire. Hollis headed off to gather some dry branches to build the fire hot enough for Jethro's coffee. She expected leftovers from last night...and when she got back to their little camp, she wasn't disappointed. Jethro quirked an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to complain, but she just smiled and said nothing. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Just because they were now engaged did not mean that she wouldn't be willing to engage in a childish battle of wills with him.

They sat quietly while the fire got hotter. Hollis looked around the area again. So quiet and secluded. It was almost like they were the only people in the world.

"I love this place. It's so peaceful."

"Like Lana'i?"

Hollis smiled and nodded.

"Not exactly the same, but yeah. The same idea."

They got the coffee made. Not as good as it could have been back at DC, but Jethro made a decent cup of coffee no matter where they were. He poured them each a cup and they gave a silent toast.

"Holly?"

"Yeah?"

"We can't stay here forever."

Hollis laughed. "I know. I think I needed time away...just to decompress from everything that happened. I don't want to go back to the world yet. I like living in this place where I can just bask in..." She chuckled again and lifted her hand. "...in the fact that I'm going to be getting married to someone I love. Once we go back, there are decisions to make, work to do. Here...we just have to put out the fire and watch the sun move across the sky. I like that."

Jethro reached over and took the cup from her hand. He set it down beside the fire and pulled her to sit right beside him.

"Real world isn't going away."

"I know."

He lifted her hand with the ring.

"This means something to me, Holly. I wouldn't give this to you if I didn't mean it."

"I know," Hollis said softly.

"I'll be there for you. I promise."

As always, the overt declaration was a slight surprise. A pleasant surprise, but still a surprise. ...and the fact that he took the time to say it meant that he was utterly sincere.

"Thanks."

A brief pause.

"You ready to head back now?"

Hollis laughed. "Yeah. Okay. Let's go."

It took only a few minutes to get the fire safely extinguished and to clear up anything that might indicate there had been two people there. As they left the clearing, Hollis looked back one more time. No sign at all.

Jethro chuckled.

"Time to go, Holly."

"Right."

They began the long trek back to civilization, making good time. A few hours later, they were back at the car, ready to return to Stillwater.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro felt a small thrill every time he looked at Hollis' hand and saw the ring on her finger. He'd finally given it to her and she'd accepted. It wasn't a surprise, but it _was_ a relief. It was even better that she'd enjoyed everything about how he'd done it. Of course, she had clearly expected a bit more for breakfast, but she wasn't surprised about it.

As they reached Stillwater, Jethro wondered how long it would take his father to notice. He seemed to have known beforehand what was going to happen, but still...

They pulled up to the store and Hollis suddenly grinned.

"Do you want me to tell him or let him see it for himself?"

Jethro smiled in response. "He'll notice."

"Okay. Let's see how long it takes."

"Less than two minutes."

"Thirty seconds?"

"What's the bet?"

"If you win, I'll make it worth your while."

"If _you_ win?"

"You have to let me see what's in the basement before I go back to LA."

"Not done yet."

"Then, you'll have to work hard, won't you," Hollis said grinning.

Jethro just returned the grin and took her hand to pull her into the store. She laughed and didn't resist.

As they stepped inside, Hollis raised her eyebrows and looked at her watch.

"You two look like you need a shower. Maybe two," Jack said from the counter.

Hollis laughed. "Maybe so. I'm all for a shower."

"Then, why did you come here? I carry some shower heads, but I don't sell full showers." Then, he grinned. "All right. Show it to me."

"What?" Jethro asked, all innocence.

"Show me that finger...and you know the one I mean. Don't even think about getting cute, Leroy. I'm not talking to you."

Hollis laughed again, clearly delighted, and lifted her hand.

"Very good," Jack said and walked over. He kissed her on the cheek. "Welcome to the family, Hollis."

"Thanks, Jack."

"Now...go and shower. You smell."

Hollis laughed aloud. "Ready and willing to go."

"Mind if I start spreading the word?"

"Don't see how you could keep it a secret, Dad," Jethro said. "...and I'm not sure I want you to anyway."

"Excellent. You can go shower, too."

They left the store together and headed back to Jack's house. They both showered and then sat down on the couch, relaxing after their long hike. That's how Jack found them when he came back in the evening...with dinner in hand. He said that he figured they wouldn't be in the mood for cooking. After dinner, they sat together in the living room, just chatting about inconsequentials. Jack seemed to know that this was just a time to bask, rather than get down to business.

As the day turned to night, the conversation began to ebb. Long gaps indicated that it was nearing the end of the idyll and they had to go back to real life. Stillwater wasn't the middle of nowhere, but it was definitely not DC.

The last night in Stillwater was uneventful and quiet. Then, came the last morning.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Back to life?" Jack asked as they loaded the car.

"That's right," Hollis said.

"You'll keep me informed of dates and such? I don't think Leroy will be able to keep talking so much."

Hollis smiled and hugged Jack tightly. "I'll tell you when we've made all the decisions. It may be today."

"Knowing my son and getting to know you, that wouldn't surprise me in the least. Don't let him talk you into eloping this time."

"_This_ time?"

"Ask him about it yourself."

"Don't give her any more ideas, Dad," Jethro said from the car. "Everything's in, Holly."

"Okay." She kissed Jack on the cheek. "I'm so glad to meet you."

"I'm glad my son didn't let you get away."

"Me, too."

Jethro walked over and Jack put out his hand. Jethro took it and then Jack pulled him into a hug.

"You did good, son. You've picked a winner. Don't screw it up, okay?"

"Try not to, Dad."

"Good. Go on, then. Give me a call when you can."

"Will do."

Jethro and Hollis got into the car and waved good-bye as they drove away.

"What did you think of Stillwater?" Jethro asked.

Hollis leaned back against the seat and sighed happily.

"Wonderful. Considering what happened there...no place better."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The trip back to DC was quiet and easy. Hollis found herself fiddling with the ring on her finger. She'd never been one to wear a _lot_ of jewelry. It was going to take some getting used to.

"You should get a ring, too," she said.

Jethro grinned. "Not my job. That's the bride's job."

Hollis laughed. "Touche. I'll remember that. Any preferences?"

"Surprise me."

"But you've got to wear it. Don't you want to have some say?"

"You're the one who always wants to know. Surprise me."

Hollis just smiled and shook her head. "Okay. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

"You did." Jethro looked at the road for a few minutes. "So...what do you want to talk about first when we get back?"

"The wedding?" Hollis suggested.

"It's not like you to put things off, Holly."

"Never been engaged before. It's a new sensation."

"Okay. Wedding, first...but we're going to have to start talking about the other stuff, too. You're leaving tomorrow."

"I know...and I know we need to. The wedding comes first," Hollis said. "We can do it in chronological order."

"Right."

Hollis just smiled and leaned back to let Jethro get them home.

When they pulled up, Hollis grabbed her bag and went inside. Jethro followed her in.

"Hungry?"

"Not in the mood to cook, though."

"Takeout, then."

"Okay."

"What do you want?"

Hollis grinned. "Surprise me."

Jethro chuckled and pulled out his phone. Hollis went upstairs with the bags and set them down without bothering to unpack them. In spite of the negative events that had brought her here, she found she wasn't looking forward to going back to LA. It was kind of an anticlimactic end to a very exciting weekend. Still, she'd already taken an extra week off. She needed to get back to work.

When she came back down, Jethro was sitting on the couch, waiting for her. She sat down across from him; so they could look each other in the eye.

"So?" he asked.

"So what?" she returned.

"Wedding."

"Right. What do _you_ want?" Hollis asked.

"I've already had every kind of wedding you could have. You can choose."

Hollis chuckled...but she found herself reluctant to say what she really wanted. Jethro seemed to notice.

"Holly, this something you deserve. What do _you_ want?"

"A real wedding," she said. "Nothing huge, but a real wedding in a church...with a reception afterward." She blushed a little, even as it galled her to do something so girly as _blush_. "I want to wear a wedding dress."

"Honeymoon in Lana'i?"

Hollis laughed. "You read my mind."

"Holly, I'm fine with that. Really. ...as long as you don't make yourself miserable with it. I've seen it happen...and usually, I paid the price for it."

"Not likely. Simple and no intention of breaking the bank with it."

"I've heard that before," Jethro said.

"Feel free to rein me in if I get out of hand. I'll even tell Hettie the same thing."

"She'll keep you in line."

"That's right. Okay. So...where? My family isn't in any one place."

"They're willing to travel wherever?"

"Yeah. I think they won't believe I'm getting married unless they see it happening for themselves."

"We could do it here."

"I'd be okay with that. I still have friends here. It's close to your dad."

"Unless you want to do it in Lana'i."

"No. ...but I'll be inviting my running crew...but if we do get married around here, you'll have to help out because I'll still be in LA."

"That's what we really need to talk about, you know."

Hollis nodded. "What are we going to do? We could hardly be farther apart and still in the same country. I don't know if I'm ready to retire for a second time...and you're not either. What are we going to do about it?"

Jethro sat back and thought. He wasn't going to rush it, of course. He wasn't one to rush when he didn't have to.

"How many more years do you think you'll want to be in LA?" he asked finally.

Hollis also sat back to think.

"I don't know. I'm really enjoying it right now...even if Hettie could probably manage everyone, plus some other things on the side if she wanted to. You know...if it weren't for the fact that I love you, this wouldn't be difficult."

"Aren't I worth a bit of difficulty?" Jethro asked with a grin.

"I'm still deciding that," Hollis retorted. "Seriously...what about you?"

"Same boat."

"And we can't just jump around either...because if I know you, and I'd like to think I do, part of what makes you enjoy your job is because of the people you work with. It wouldn't be the same anywhere else."

Jethro nodded.

Hollis smiled suddenly. "You know what my mom would say if she were here?"

"What?"

"She'd say that I need to keep you and do whatever it takes because I'm not likely to find another man who could put up with my quirks."

"I don't think she would."

"You don't even know her."

"I've caught glimpses...and she'd want you not to give up what you love."

Hollis smiled. "Well, therein lies the problem. My two loves are on opposite sides of the continent. So, even if you're right, that does us no good. Now what?"

Jethro visibly hesitated.

"What?"

"Give me two more years."

"For what?"

"You stay in LA until we get married and then...come out here with me. Give me two years and we'll retire. ...to Lana'i."

Hollis smiled. "I don't have a basement on Lana'i."

"We'll be right near the ocean. I think we can find a place to put a boat."

"Put one, yes...but what about building one?"

Jethro was silent for a moment and then he smiled. "If I have to choose between building another boat and being with you, I think you'll win out, Holly."

"You _think_?"

"Don't push your luck."

Hollis considered what Jethro had suggested. It _would_ require that she retire again long before she'd thought she would. ...and yet, the suggestion wasn't as disappointing as she had thought it might be. One of them would _have_ to sacrifice for the other. Jethro had been here longer, had put down more roots. ...and she herself still had a lot of connections out here. ...and in reality, did they _have_ to move permanently to Lana'i even when they had both retired? Was that really necessary? Right now, the renting had been going really well, more than offsetting her property taxes and mortgage. When they'd retired, they could go there whenever they wanted...and see if they really did want to stay there permanently.

_Would I be happy living here in Jethro's home? _Hollis asked herself. _Yes. Yes, if I could do something to make it mine, too._

Jethro, for his part, just sat quietly, letting her think about his proposal. It was clear that he himself was aware of what he was asking and also aware of the difficulties involved in making them both happy, but he was trying.

"Would you listen to my counter-suggestion?" Hollis asked.

Jethro smiled. "What?"

"Give me a year more in LA, then we get married...and I come out here. You decide if you want to keep working. I see if Director Vance would be interested in using me in any capacity in this area. If not, then, I'll just retire for the second time..."

"You're not the only one of us who's already retired once, you know."

Hollis chuckled. "True. ...and then...we'll see if living permanently on Lana'i is enough for us both."

Jethro's eyes widened. Could it be she had managed to surprise him?

"Well, Jethro?"

"And if it's not enough?" he asked.

"Then, we stay here."

"And you'd be happy with that? With being in this house?"

"I think so. Won't know unless I try. I didn't know if I'd like working in LA until I tried it. I did. I'm willing to take another risk. ...if you're willing to let me make this my home as well as yours."

There were a lot of layers to that statement, Hollis knew. Although there was very little left of her in the main areas of the house, this was where Jethro kept his memories of Shannon and Kelly...and that was a place Hollis didn't want to intrude. She would go if invited but it was hard to know what to do with that part of Jethro's life.

Jethro looked around the room...the rather bland room that showed almost nothing of the man who had lived here for years. He smiled.

"It's hardly been _my_ home. I'm okay with it being ours...but are _you_ sure you want this?"

"Yes...or at least, I'm sure I want you, and this place comes with the territory...as does everything you are...boats, ex-wives and all. You've dealt with _my_ past in the last week."

"And you've dealt with mine for the entire time we've been together."

"If neither of us have been driven away yet, I think we won't be. I think we can take it."

"And you'd be all right with only one more year?"

Hollis thought about it again, and nodded. The more she considered it, the more she liked the idea of coming back to DC. She remembered how excited she'd been to see it after a long time away. She'd lived in DC longer than she'd lived almost anywhere else, and the memories were mostly good ones.

"I'd just have to find something to do with my time...and I'm pretty sure I could."

"So...does that mean we've made a decision?"

"A tentative one, it sounds like. Are _you_ all right with it?"

Jethro nodded. "You?"

"Yeah."

He held out his hand and gestured. Hollis smiled and joined him on the couch.

"That was relatively painless, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Relatively. You going to tell your brothers?"

"I think I'll let them wait until I get back. I can go show Marjorie the ring and she'll be happy for me. I can tell the others on the phone. We'll have to decide on a date."

"A year from now works for me."

Hollis just laughed and didn't press the point. They had time for that. There was a knock on the door, signaling the arrival of their dinner. Jethro went and got it. He set it out on the table and handed Hollis her chopsticks.

"You recreating our first meal together?"

"You noticed."

"Not too many people could claim cheap Chinese takeout as a first date."

"It wasn't a date."

"No...even better. How many people could claim to be investigating grisly murders while eating their first meal?"

Jethro smiled. "Not too many."

He handed her a box and then started eating himself.

"How many people do you think you're going to invite?" she asked in between bites.

Jethro shrugged. "Not much family. Few people at NCIS."

Hollis suppressed a chuckle and took another bite.

"What?" he asked, smiling a little himself.

"If you don't invite the people on your team, we'll look up and find them peeking in the doors."

Jethro didn't reply to that. He just moved on.

"You?"

"My family...which is bigger than yours. A few friends. I think we could easily get by with space for less than a hundred people."

Jethro nodded in agreement.

"Your job is to find the place."

"My job?" Jethro asked.

"Yes. I'm not going to search through the Internet, when you're here and can do it yourself."

"Yes, ma'am."

Hollis thought about it. There was going to be a lot of work.

"Maybe we _should_ just elope."

"Nope. Too late for that. Dad won't let us."

"He going to help?"

"If you ask."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll do that."

"Good."

They ate in silence for a few more minutes.

"Anything else I'm not thinking of yet?" Hollis asked. "You have a lot more experience with marriages."

Jethro set down his chopsticks and began ticking off points. "Flowers, wedding line, food, music, drinks...if you want to do a cocktail hour...uh...how you want presents, invitations."

"Flowers can be minimal, same with the wedding line. Food, we'll get catered by someone. Cocktail hour? What's the point of that?"

"Give the bride and groom time to change if they're going to."

"Oh. Well...no. That's not necessary."

"Dancing?"

Hollis laughed. "Probably not...but I'm not overly opposed."

"Invitations?"

"We'll each have to make a list...and figure it out then."

"Okay. What about your dress?"

"I'll get it in LA. You're not supposed to see it until the wedding anyway." Hollis suddenly was struck by a thought. It made her stop with the details and smile wistfully.

"What is it?"

"I think I just realized one of the reasons my mom hoped I'd get married."

"Why?"

"Because she never did. She never got that experience...and she wanted me to have it. Now, I am. I wish she could see it."

Jethro put an arm around her shoulders.

"Could be worse."

"How?"

"She could be here hounding you."

Hollis laughed and sniffled just a little. "You're going to make me cry, Jethro, and I don't want to cry when I'm actually happy."

"Going soft on me?"

"Maybe diamonds have that effect on people."

"Don't see me crying."

Hollis slugged him and sat up.

"I didn't want to be so stereotypical."

"You're allowed."

"Thanks."

They finished eating and then sat together for the evening before going to bed.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro woke up early the next morning and slid out of bed without waking Hollis up. He went down to the basement. He wouldn't quite have it finished before Hollis had to go, but he could get most of it, and she'd see what it would be like...when she came back the next time.

As he smoothed out his work, he thought about the discussion they'd had the night before. In spite of how much Hollis had tried to stay practical, Jethro had seen how excited she was at the prospect of having a wedding. He was really glad he could do that for her...something else that would definitely separate him from her father.

"Jethro? Can I come down?"

"Sure. Not done yet, but you'll see what I'm doing."

Hollis came thumping down, pulling her hair back into her usual ponytail. She paused when she got near the bottom.

"Jethro..."

He smiled. He loved it when he could surprise her.

"The headboard...I thought it was just going to be...simple."

"It is."

"This isn't simple. This is...beautiful."

Jethro smiled and finished another stroke. The headboard was in two levels, connected by two short pillars. Then, there were some simple geometric patterns carved into each level. Each level was divided into three panels and the patterns were all connecting, forming one larger design.

"Wow," Hollis said. "This is gorgeous, Jethro."

"Thanks. Glad you like it."

"I love it. That means that next time I come, you'll have a decent bed."

Jethro grinned and brushed the sawdust off his hands.

"You ready to go?"

"No. ...but I'm packed."

"I'll give you a ride over."

"Coffee first?"

"Do you have time?"

"Yes."

Whether she really did or not, Jethro followed her up to the kitchen and they had a simple quick breakfast. Then, he drove her to the airport. She checked in and they walked together to the security line.

"Don't lose the ring."

"I won't. ...and you'll get your own ring soon enough."

Jethro kissed her and she hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Then, he let her go and she got in line. He waited until she'd disappeared from view. Then, he took a breath and headed back home so he could get ready for work.

All in all, it had been an excellent weekend.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

_Two months later..._

Hollis had been thinking about this all day, and it was time to bite the bullet...while most of the team was occupied elsewhere. She left her office and headed down to Hettie's domain.

"Hollis, what brings you down here at this time of the day?" Hettie asked. "You're generally keeping your eye on things from above."

Hollis smiled. Hettie never was one to beat around the bush.

"I'd actually like to ask for a favor, Hettie...if you're able."

Hettie raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really? I'm intrigued. What is it?"

"I..." Hollis grimaced. Even after telling everyone, and letting them ooh and aah over her ring, and razz her about the fact that she was marrying Leroy Jethro Gibbs, she found she was still self-conscious about the whole wedding planning thing.

"Spit it out, Agent Mann."

"I need to find a wedding dress...but I honestly have no idea where to start...and no one really to ask. All I have are brothers, and no offense to Kensi, but I'm not going to trust her to tell me what looks good and what doesn't."

Hettie smiled in her mysterious fashion, took a sip of tea and then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it silently. She handed the paper to Hollis.

"Be at this address, Saturday at 11 a.m. Work permitting, of course. I will meet you there."

Hollis looked at it...and then at Hettie.

"I promise that, while I may not be the perfect source...and I'm better than most, the people here _will _be perfect...and I will tell you what I think."

Somehow, that sounded like a threat...but having no other real alternatives, Hollis nodded and put the address securely in her pocket.

"Thank you, Hettie. I'll see you on Saturday." She started to walk away but then turned back. "What does one wear to shop for wedding dresses?"

Hettie smiled again. "It doesn't matter...because we don't care what you wear when you come into the store. You won't be wearing it for long."

Again...that sounded almost like a threat coming from Hettie, but Hollis felt a sense of relief because she knew that Hettie wouldn't let her down.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Nothing came up requiring her presence on Saturday; so, as ordered, Hollis went to the address Hettie had given her. She saw the dress shop, tucked away in a quiet corner of an unassuming street, but she wasn't sure she was ready to go inside. This was such a big thing...and wedding dresses were _so_ expensive. ...and that was kind of silly when it was only going to be worn once. ...but she couldn't _not_ get a real wedding dress. Hettie was probably inside.

"You've been in combat. You've led a covert team of agents. You can buy a wedding dress, Hollis."

As she opened the door, she couldn't help thinking that being in combat seemed simpler than this.

"Ah, Hollis, welcome," Hettie said. "Gerard, this is Hollis Mann, my friend who will be getting married. Hollis, this is Gerard Brun. He owns this shop and is the perfect person to find you a wedding dress."

"Hollis," Gerard said with only a slight accent. "Hettie tells me you are wanting a vintage gown."

"I am?" Hollis asked.

"Yes, you are," Hettie said firmly. "You're not twenty years old any longer, and many of these garish modern styles would look out of place on a strong, independent woman like you."

Hollis smiled gamely.

"Besides that," Gerard said. "Your figure is such that you appear to need little embellishment. Who is the lucky man?"

"He's in DC. That's where we're getting married."

"Ah, long distance. Easier to hide the dress from him, then," Gerard said with a grin. "Seeing you now, I have an idea of where to start. Why don't you go back to the dressing room and I'll send Elise in to help you."

"Okay."

Gerard headed off to the back and Hollis looked at Hettie.

"Vintage?"

"Definitely. Trust me, Hollis. You'll thank me for it."

"All right."

Hollis walked back to the dressing room and sat awkwardly on a chair. It was only a few minutes before a woman who must be Elise came in with three dresses.

"Hello, I'm Elise. Now, do you have any preference on which dress you try on first?"

"None. You're the expert."

"Very well. We'll try this. It has a chocolate brown sash, long clean lines. Nothing too ornate."

"Sounds fine to me," Hollis said and stared at Elise.

Elise smiled. "You'll need to change."

"Oh...I suppose I probably can't get into that dress by myself, can I."

"Not likely."

"Right." Hollis allowed Elise to help her into the first dress, but as soon as she put it on and saw herself in the mirror, she knew it wasn't right. It was lovely, but it was _too_ simple. However, she was anxious to see if Hettie agreed with her.

"You want to show Hettie?"

"Yes."

"All right."

Elise led her out of the dressing room, but before Hollis had even had a chance to model it at all, Hettie was shaking her head.

"No. Won't do. Too simple. You don't need a _lot_ of embellishment, but that is much too little. Next."

Hollis laughed. "Well, I'm glad we agree, Hettie."

"Well, don't just stand there. Try on the next dress!"

Hollis did as she was told and put on the next dress. It, too, was a bust. In fact, she didn't even bother going on to show Hettie, because, even if Hettie liked it, Hollis hated it...and she wasn't going to wear something she hated. Then, another one.

"Way too much cleavage. I'm not in a burlesque show," Hollis said.

And another.

"You're not a mermaid, Hollis," Hettie said, waving her away.

And another.

"This is ridiculous," Hollis said. "It's one day. It's important, yes, but I've never taken so long to pick a dress for _any_ occasion."

"You've never been married before, Hollis," Hettie said patiently. "Gerard, I'm starting to lose faith in you."

Gerard waved that away. "These are warmups. We must test the waters to decide on the perfect dress. Watch me work my magic."

He walked to the back again. Hollis looked at Hettie, feeling discouraged.

"I thought this was supposed to be exciting, not exhausting, Hettie."

"You've clearly never been with someone who was shopping for wedding dresses before."

"Never."

"There's always a point at which exhaustion sets in. You've last longer than I thought you would, actually. Congratulations."

"Hettie, this is just..."

Hettie patted Hollis on the hand. "Now, Hollis, you need to keep in mind the occasion. Imagine yourself walking down the aisle. You're not just going to a party. You're getting married. Yes, you only wear the dress once, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime event. ...for most people. You need to love what you wear because you will likely never feel as perfect as you do on your wedding day."

"I'm not twenty years old, as you told me already."

"And _that's_ what makes this so special, Hollis," Hettie said with a smile. "Now, go on back and see if Gerard has managed to conjure up perfection."

Hollis took a deep breath and nodded. Elise was waiting for her.

"Okay, Hollis. This one has a bit of lace and a chiffon train. Very vintage."

"I don't know. I've never been a lace person."

"You'll never know unless you try. Gerard has declared this to be your perfect dress. He only says that when he's sure. He picks out every dress our clients try on. No one else does. He's been in this business for a long time."

"Okay. Let's try it."

Elise helped her into the dress. It had a train, but it was a light chiffon with delicate beading and what looked like lace details all over. The beading ran up the dress, but not so that it overwhelmed the clean lines. The front of the skirt was almost plain, but still beautiful. The sleeves fell off the shoulders, leaving them bare. The torso gathered to accentuate a narrow waist, and while the back was low, the front had a splash of beading with a tasteful cut that flattered without showing off everything.

"This dress could have been made for you," Elise said with a smile. "Turn around and see."

"I'm almost afraid to...because if it's wrong, then I'll have to find something else and try it on."

Elise laughed. "You're not familiar with Gerard, I take it?"

"Should I be?"

"I suppose not. He was a designer in his own right for a number of years, made quite a name for himself...and then decided to open this place. There's a waiting list for people to get in to see him. I've known people to wait for a year...because Gerard doesn't let anyone else make the decisions."

Hollis' eyes widened. "How much is all this going to cost me?"

"Don't worry. Hettie took care of the appointment, and since you're a friend of hers, you'll get a deal."

Hollis was not reassured.

"Just turn around and see yourself."

With a deep breath, Hollis turned around and looked at herself in the mirror...and she watched as her own eyes opened wide. On the hanger, the dress had looked old and fairly unimpressive. On her...

"You have a wonderful figure, Hollis."

"My mother would be happy to hear you say that," Hollis said faintly. "I got my figure from her."

"What do you think?"

"I...don't...know... It's so...different from what I wear, even to dress up."

Elise smiled and took her by the hand. "Let's see what Hettie has to say."

"Okay."

Hollis let herself be led out of the dressing room, but she kept looking back at herself in the mirror.

_Is that really me?_

Out in the main area, Hettie looked up and smiled.

"Ah, Gerard, very well done. You looked a bit shell-shocked, Hollis."

"I am. What is this going to cost?"

Hettie _tsk_-ed at her. "Don't think about that for the moment. Just turn around and really look at yourself."

Hollis did as she was told.

"What do you think?"

"I think that...I don't even recognize myself in the mirror."

"Oh, it's you, Hollis." Hettie patted her encouragingly. "Gerard, let me see the veil."

Gerard came over with a single-tiered veil. It had a narrow moccasin hemline. He placed it on Hollis' head as she stared at herself, feeling almost a sensation of shock.

"Hollis?"

"Yes?"

"Do you like it?"

"Yes."

"Do you _love_ it?"

Hollis finally managed to smile. "Yes, I do. I love it."

"Excellent. Gerard, you can get back to me on the details. How long will the alterations take?"

"Two months, perhaps. No longer."

Hollis finally broke away from staring at herself.

"Wait. How much is this going to cost?"

Hettie just waved that away.

"Hettie...you're not paying for my wedding dress."

Hettie gave another of her enigmatic smiles.

"Hettie!"

"Hollis, come here and sit down for a moment."

Hollis walked over and sat so that Hettie was at eye level.

"You are getting married. You are making a very wonderful change to your life. ...and you have no mother to ooh and aah over you. You need someone to take charge of this one thing, and that will be me."

"Hettie, really, it's not necessary. I can afford it."

"This isn't about _affording_ it. It's about what you deserve." She kissed Hollis on both cheeks. "You deserve this."

Neither Hettie nor Hollis were hugging people. It just wasn't part of their personalities, but Hollis suddenly felt a little teary and she hugged Hettie tightly.

"Thank you."

Hettie hugged her back.

"You're welcome...and congratulations."

Hollis stood up and looked at herself once more. She smiled.

It was perfect.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro pushed the new bed into place and nodded to himself. Yes. Perfect. It was only missing one thing.

Hollis.

Now that he was going to be married (again), he really just wanted her here.

As if she'd read his mind, his phone rang.

"_Hey, Jethro."_

"You sound happy."

"_Hettie bought my perfect wedding dress today."_

"She did what?"

"_I asked Hettie for help finding a dress, and she did...and then insisted on buying it for me."_

Jethro was more than surprised at that. It didn't seem like a Hettie thing to do...although the fact that Hettie _could_ help Hollis find a perfect dress didn't surprise him at all.

"What did it cost?"

"_I have no idea. She wouldn't tell me, and the person who owns the dress shop wouldn't tell me either."_

"Well, that's one expense to write off, then. I'm okay with that. Are you happy with it?'

"_Yes. Very happy."_

He could hear it in her voice. She was more than happy.

"I'm glad. I'm looking at the place."

"_Any ideas yet?"_

"Some. I'll let you know."

"_Jethro?"_

"Yeah?"

"_I'm really excited."_

Jethro smiled.

"Me, too."

"_I love you...and you'll be shocked at my dress."_

"Why?"

"_Because I didn't pick it out. Gerard did."_

"Who's Gerard?"

"_The miracle worker who owns the dress shop."_

"I won't even try to guess."

"_How much longer do we have?"_

"Too long."

"_I'm glad you feel that way, too. You ready for a visit?"_

"When?"

"_Next month?"_

"I'll make sure I have the location picked out by then."

"_Great. Love you."_

"Love you, too. Bye."

Jethro hung up and smiled. Yes, he would be happy for Hollis to come back...even if it was only briefly.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_Two weeks later..._

Jethro was sitting on his couch. He felt a bit of nervousness as he sat there. He'd never admit it, but he was anxious to get this all right...for Hollis if nothing else.

That was why he had swallowed his pride and asked for help. ...and when he heard the front door open, he knew that, in spite of his chagrine, this was a better option than possibly screwing it up.

"Leroy! I'm ready to go!"

Jethro smiled. "Dad, you just got here."

"What am I here for besides helping you choose a place for your wedding? I know you didn't invite me for the lively conversation."

Jethro hesitated.

"Did you?"

"Guess not."

"Then, let's get a move on. I'm not getting any younger...and neither are you. Do you have a list?"

"Yeah, but it's a long list. We don't have time for all of them right now."

Jackson came over to the couch and sat down.

"Let me see the list. How many people do you think will be coming?"

"About a hundred...at most."

Jackson nodded and scanned the list. "I think you can eliminate any of the big churches, then."

"Holly wants a church."

"She wants traditional, but a big church will be too big for a small group. Now, I've done a bit of research myself."

"Big surprise," Jethro muttered.

"...and I think that you'll do better to find one of these places that has a chapel and gives you a whole package. I don't think _either_ of you want to deal with figuring out who to hire for food and flowers and music."

Jethro hated it when his dad was right. ...and he was right this time.

"So do you have specific suggestions, then?"

Jackson smiled. "Leroy, I think you should do _some_ of the work yourself."

Jethro rolled his eyes. "I've done a lot of the work already. Anything on my list that you think will fit?"

"How much research do you think I did? I don't know the names of these places."

"Then, are you ready to go?"

Jackson chuckled. "Ready and rarin'. Let's get on it."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They spent almost the entire day driving around the Metro area. Jethro crossed off all the big churches, happy enough to follow his dad's lead in that respect. A few, they drove up and then drove away. The feel of the front was wrong right off the bat. They went a bit further into Maryland and pulled up to a charming little chapel. Jethro looked at his father and raised an eyebrow.

"You found this place by yourself, Leroy?"

"Don't act so shocked."

"How did you find this place?"

"Uh...I asked McGee to make me a list and show me how to look at the sites."

Jackson laughed outright. "Well, however you came upon it, I like it. I think you've picked a good one, son."

"Well, let's go and see what there is to see, shall we?"

"All right."

They got out of the car and headed into the office. A friendly-looking woman was sitting at the desk. She looked up when the door opened.

"Good afternoon. How can I help you?"

"Hi..." Jethro felt weird doing this. He really hadn't done much planning in his previous weddings.

Jackson looked amused.

"What my son is trying to say is that he's getting married and needs to find a proper venue."

Her smile widened. "I'm Brenda Nolan. When is the big day?"

"In ten months," Jethro said, trying to redeem himself.

"Well, why don't I show you what we have, and you can decide whether or not this is what you want. We don't have as large a venue as some places do, but I think we more than make up for it. You can get everything here: food, flowers, wedding cake, music, photos. We also have two ministers on staff as well."

"Wow. That sounds great," Jethro said.

"So...who's the lucky woman?" she asked.

"She's in California. I'm in charge of getting the place. Retired Army lieutenant colonel."

"Wow," Brenda said, her eyes widening.

"And my son here is a former Marine and federal agent."

"How did you two meet?"

"Investigating a murder," Jethro said. "A man got blown up while he was playing golf."

Brenda laughed. "Well, I will have to say that you have the most unique story I've ever heard. We don't have any weddings scheduled for today; so I can take you around and show you our amenities."

Jethro followed along behind her as she left the office and began pointing out what they had. There was a small chapel.

"How many does it seat?"

"About 120 people."

"Perfect," Jackson said.

Then, a reception hall.

"And the catering can be done here?"

"Absolutely. If you get a full package, catering is available."

Then, a smaller renovated cabin.

"This is the bridal suite. It's also included if you get a full package, but if you only want the chapel, it's an extra 150 dollars."

Jethro nodded and looked at Jackson...who was looking nothing short of impressed.

"We also have photography services here and the grounds are perfect for wedding photos."

They finished the tour and went back to the office.

"So, what do you think?" Brenda asked.

"Well, how much does all this cost?"

She smiled and handed them both a sheet. "Here's a basic breakdown of the costs. Would you be looking at a weekend?"

"Yeah."

"Friday and Sunday are cheaper than Saturday."

"Everyone wants to get married on a Saturday," Jackson said.

"Exactly."

Jethro was looking at the price. They could afford it, but he definitely wasn't used to seeing numbers like this for a single day...an important day, yes, but still, it was only one day.

"And if we added in catering?"

"That depends on the menu you choose. Generally, it runs between fifty and sixty dollars per plate."

"Wow."

"The food is excellent."

"It better be," Jethro muttered.

"And the wedding cake?" Jackson asked. He kept a smile on his face to reassure Brenda that Jethro was just being gruff.

"Again that depends, but the price starts at $4.50 per slice. It can go up depending on the type of cake you get."

"We won't be deciding right now, but thank you for your help," Jackson said pleasantly.

"Just give us a call. Our number is on the sheet. Or you can email us. Our address is there as well."

"Thanks," Jethro said.

They walked out to the car.

"This place is excellent, Leroy."

"It's expensive, Dad."

"Hollis will love it."

"It's _expensive_."

"You can easily afford it."

"Doesn't mean we should. It's 3,000 dollars, just for the place! Everything else is extra!"

"Yeah, and you're not getting away with anything less than that...unless you strip it back to nothing. This place is the right size. It's still a church. In fact, the chapel is beautifully renovated. Everything is the right size for what you want...and you don't have to go anywhere else for _anything_. This is convenient, Leroy."

Jethro looked at the chapel and reception hall. He had to admit that his dad was right yet again. This place _did_ look perfect. He sighed...and Jackson took it for what it was: capitulation.

"I'll suggest it to Hollis."

"With that much enthusiasm? Do you really not like it? If you don't, don't let me persuade you, but if it's just the money, let me tell you that you're not going to find any better. We can look at other places, but I think this is the best option for what you want."

Jethro shook his head. "No, I do like it, Dad."

"Nerves?"

Jethro grimaced. To be admitting to something so prosaic as the jitters...it seemed so...not him. Leroy Jethro Gibbs didn't get nervous, especially not about marrying a woman he loved.

"Leroy, be honest. Does this make you nervous?"

"I want to do this right, Dad," Jethro finally admitted. "I don't want to screw this up. I've done things wrong in almost every marriage. I don't want to get this one wrong, not when I think I've been doing things right."

Jackson squeezed Jethro's shoulder.

"That's good, son, but you're doing things right. You've found a woman who can deal with your...idiosyncrasies, and you know about hers. You two fit together well, if you care about my opinion. I don't think you need to worry about picking the right place. You've already made the hard decisions. This is just..." He grinned. "...icing on the cake."

"Oh, Dad," Jethro said with another grimace at the pun.

Jackson just grinned.

"Do you like this place, Leroy?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then, show it to Hollis and see if she likes it, too...then, when she agrees with me, you can call the nice lady in that office and reserve it for next year."

"You're pretty confident."

"That's because I might have talked to a few people about what they liked about their various wedding venues."

"You did _what_?"

"Well, I knew _you_ wouldn't do it. Hollis has no experience with it and she's not here. Someone had to find out this stuff. That leaves me."

"Just how much did you research?"

"Oh, I'm now well-versed in the arts of planning a wedding."

"So...how much are you going to help us out?"

"As much as you'll let me, Leroy. I haven't been involved in a lot of the big moments in your life. If you'll let me be involved, I will be."

"I'll let you."

Jackson smiled widely. "Good."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Two days later..._

Jethro was sitting by the phone, waiting. He'd sent Hollis the website...and then not heard anything from her beyond one reply that said she was getting buried under paperwork and would check it when she had time. By now, he was hoping she'd had the time.

The phone rang, and he knew it was her, but he waited for it to ring twice before he answered.

"Holly?"

"_Jethro, sorry it took so long. I don't even want to _think_ about these last two days ever again. If I was going to quit because of stress, this would be the week for it."_

"What's going on?"

"_Well...we had a...an invasion and...we've been going over every security protocol to figure what went wrong."_

"Anyone hurt?"

"_No. No one hurt, but we could have had the entire place compromised. It's been a nightmare. I was really happy to be able to look at what you sent me."_

"What do you think?"

"_Did you come up with this by yourself, Jethro?"_ Hollis asked.

"Why? Do you like it?"

Hollis laughed. _"It's beautiful. I didn't have anything in mind in particular, but if I had, this would have been it. It does seem expensive. Do you mind that?"_

"I've been reliably informed that we won't be able to find things any cheaper."

"_By whom?"_

"My dad."

"_Your dad helped you?"_

"He's apparently become an expert."

"_All right. I'll bow to his expertise. The fact that it has everything in one place...that will make it _so_ much easier than it would be otherwise. I'm all for it."_

"Great. Will you still be able to come in a couple of weeks?"

"_Yes,"_ Hollis said firmly. _"I am _not_ giving this trip up. I will get on my knees and beg Hettie to let me leave if it comes to that."_

"I'll be waiting."

"_Jethro...I really love you."_

"I love you...and I'm glad you like the place."

Hollis laughed. _"What would you have done if I hadn't?"_

"Don't know. Since it didn't happen, I don't have to worry about it."

"_Good point. See you in a couple of weeks."_

"I'll be waiting."

Hollis seemed reluctant to hang up, but she said good-bye and probably went back to work. Jethro hadn't ever heard her so harried. The "invasion" had probably been worse than she had said...but he didn't want to press her for details when things were still being sorted out. He could ask her when she came.

...it seemed so long to wait. He missed her a lot.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_Two weeks later..._

Jethro and Hollis pulled up to the chapel and Hollis got out.

"Wow. The pictures don't do this place justice," Hollis said.

"So you like it?"

Hollis' smile almost got rid of the exhaustion that had been in her eyes ever since she'd arrived. Whatever the fallout of the invasion had been, it had lasted longer than she'd expected.

"I love it. As long as you don't mind the cost."

"I don't mind."

Hollis laughed. "How many times did you have to practice that before it sounded genuine?"

Jethro grinned. "I didn't have to practice. I just had to get used to seeing that big a number for one day. After that, it was easy."

Hollis hugged him. "Jethro, I'm so glad I'm here doing this with you."

"Bad?"

"Yeah. Even now. We've had to give reports to Vance, to SecNav, to local law enforcement. It's been a nightmare. Even Hettie has been upset by it...and you know how unflappable _she_ is."

Jethro nodded. "Set it aside for now, all right?"

"Gladly."

They went into the office and met with Brenda. She took them on a quick tour and then they sat down to start planning what they'd do. Over the next couple of hours, they chose their music, their cake, the menu, and picked a date. Jethro was surprised at how simple it was. Apparently, there _was_ value in having everything in one place, all taken care of by the same person.

"All right, the last thing," Brenda said. "Ms. Mann, will you be wanting to have your hair and makeup taken care of by us as well?"

Hollis' eyes widened. "You do that, too?"

Brenda laughed. "Of course. Are you interested?"

"I guess so. I generally don't hire people to do that for me...but I guess I can do that...once."

"Okay. We'll add that to your reservation. With the photos, you'll be able to come an hour earlier so that you don't have to worry about posed photos taking over your time."

Hollis looked at Jethro with an all-too-knowing expression...but she didn't say a word. Jethro didn't say anything against it, either. While he had been through enough wedding photos to last a lifetime, Hollis hadn't really been in on any of that; so this was her chance...and he could acknowledge that it would be nice to have a professional picture of them together.

They did all they could with Brenda in one sitting and promised to get her the exact numbers within the next couple of months. Then, they headed back home.

For a few hours, they sat together on the couch and Hollis told Jethro about what had been happening in LA for the last couple of weeks. She didn't give all the details...since she wasn't really supposed to, but Jethro listened and let Hollis unload some of her stress, some of her worry. After she had talked herself out, they sat without speaking for a few minutes.

Then, Hollis suddenly sat up and looked Jethro with a smile on her face.

"What?" Jethro asked.

"Do you ever think that it's absolutely crazy that this is working?"

"Why?"

Hollis looked around the room. "You and me...we're the kind of people who don't...end up happily ever after. I'm the perpetual spinster, too set in my ways to change. You're the strong silent type who lost what he wanted and never could find it again. I'm demanding and opinionated. You're closed off and...and yet..." She smiled softly and held up her left hand. "...and yet, somehow...here we are...together...and it works. When you first met me, did you ever imagine all this?"

"Nope," Jethro said with a smile. "I wouldn't have believed it, either."

"I checked you out," Hollis confessed. "That first night in your basement. I checked you out."

Jethro grinned. "So did I."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"You liked what you saw?'

"Definitely."

"I wondered for a long time what it was about you that I liked so much."

"I knew what I liked about you."

"Oh, really? What?"

"You wouldn't back down...except when you knew it was right. ...and you made me laugh. I didn't laugh much."

"I like your smile," Hollis said.

Jethro looked at her, and beneath what they were saying, he could see that there was a slight undercurrent of worry. She was _too_ happy, and she was afraid that he would decide not to go through with it. ...but she was also determined not to let him see it. She didn't want to be needy, requiring assurance every step of the way. He knew that she'd go along as she had without any kind of request...but he also knew that it would taint, even slightly, her enjoyment of everything that came before. ...only he _had_ seen it, and he could stop that worry with ease.

Jethro reached out and took Hollis' left hand in his. He ran his fingers over the ring he'd given her.

"Holly, I love you. I want to marry you. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. That's not going to change in the next nine months. I love you."

Hollis smiled. "Am I that obvious?"

"No. I just know how to read you." Jethro took a breath. He wasn't normally especially expressive, particularly not about himself, but he wanted Hollis to understand how he felt...to _really_ understand. "Holly, what we have isn't what I had with Shannon. ...but you taught me how to appreciate what I could still have, instead of looking back at the past and refusing to leave it there. I'm not trying to get what I had before. I'm taking what I've got now...and I have you...and I love you. I'm not going into this without understanding that. I wouldn't do that to you."

Hollis nodded. "I know you wouldn't...really, I do. I used to wonder what might have happened if we had met earlier. ...but I don't think we would have fit. I think...you and I...we needed to be at this stage in order to..." She laughed a little. "...in order to tolerate each other."

Jethro laughed, too.

"I think we do a pretty good job of it."

"Me, too."

Hollis took a breath and cocked her head to the side. Back to business, he could see.

"So are you ready to hash out the invite list?"

"Shouldn't take very long."

"No, it shouldn't, but let's do it now and get it done."

"All right."

Jethro got a couple of pieces of paper and handed one to Hollis.

"I'll bet I finish first," he said.

"No fair. I have more family," Hollis protested.

"Not my fault."

Hollis bent over her paper and started writing. Jethro followed suit.

It took them half an hour to make their decisions on who to invite. Jethro finished in about ten minutes. Hollis took longer...because, as she said, she had more family. ...and more friends to be honest. She was more open than he'd ever be, but that was all right because Jethro knew that he didn't need a lot of extra people. He had the small circle he wanted and that was enough for him.

After they got that business done, they decided on what they wanted for their invitations. The one really nice thing is that they had no one to impress. The people who might have mattered were already so impressed that they'd managed to find someone to marry them that they wouldn't care what the invitations looked like. So they got online, found one of the places that Gibbs had made a list of...or rather that he'd got his dad to make a list of. They entered their information and called it good.

Satisfied, they spent the rest of the weekend together, just enjoying the time they had before Hollis would go back to work.

"Nine months," Hollis said softly. "You think we'll make it?"

"We have to. We've booked the place already," Jethro said.

Hollis grinned. "True enough. This is the first time I haven't wanted to go back to LA. Feel free to come and visit."

"I will."

Hollis hugged him tightly.

"Anything you want me to do?" Jethro asked.

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you."

Hollis kissed him. "That's all I want."

"Well, that's easy," Jethro said softly. "It's easy to say it."

"Thank you. I love you."

"I said it first."

Hollis laughed and got into the taxi that was waiting for her. Jethro watched her go and then went to work.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Six months later..._

Jethro got to work early, as always. Only this time, he had a mission. They'd got the invitations, but he found that he didn't want to send them in the mail because it seemed silly to do that when he worked with these people every day. So, he'd sealed them all up in envelopes and then set them on everyone's desks.

Now, he was waiting. Everyone knew he was getting married, but this was the first real confirmation they'd be getting that it wasn't all an elaborate hoax.

The elevator dinged revealing Ziva. She walked over to her desk, deposited her bag and then noticed the envelope. She looked over at Tony's desk and Tim's desk...and then at Jethro's own desk and obviously noticed that there wasn't an envelope there. She smiled and slid her finger under the flap. She pulled it out as the elevator doors opened again.

"I'm telling you, Probie, sometimes, a movie doesn't _have_ to be the best in the world, but there has to be _some_ redeeming feature to it."

"You know, Tony, just because _you_ don't see any redeeming feature, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist."

"I am the king of movies, McGeek. If there's one thing I know, it's that..."

"Gibbs is getting married?" Ziva interjected, holding up the invitation.

Tony stopped mid-sentence and stared at Ziva in surprise.

"I think you both have one, too."

"We're invited?" Tim asked in surprise.

"Of _course_, we are, McGee," Tony said. "We've been working with the Boss for years. Besides, who else is he going to invite?"

Jethro grinned to himself.

"Ducky...Fornell?"

"His ex-wives?" Ziva suggested.

Jethro rolled his eyes.

"Right. Look at how happy I am without you! Nothing spells a great wedding day like inviting previous wives."

Tim just laughed and opened his invitation.

"Wow. We really _are_ invited."

"Did you think I was lying, McGee?" Ziva asked.

"No, but wow."

"You shocked that he's getting married?" Tony asked.

"Not really. They've been together for a while...but..."

Jethro smiled to himself and decided it was time to make an appearance. He headed around to his desk.

"Morning, Boss!" Tim said. "Thanks for the invite."

"Pretty nice invitations, Boss," Tony said. "I'm surprised."

"I will congratulate you officially," Ziva said with a smile. "I am happy for you."

Jethro just smiled and nodded in acceptance, checked his email and then headed down to Autopsy. He'd dropped Abby's off in her lab so that she could rejoice for a few seconds by herself and then nearly kill him with a hug, but he wanted to give Ducky's to him personally...and then, Ducky could hand off Jimmy's when he got there.

He paused for a moment before stepping into Ducky's domain.

"Good morning, Jethro," Ducky said as Jethro walked in. "I'm only just here. There can't be anything I've missed doing."

"Nope. Got something for you."

"Really?" Ducky got up from his desk and walked over. "What is it?"

Jethro held out the envelope. Ducky grinned and opened it. He read the invitation silently.

"You both approved of this?"

"Yep."

"Then, you two deserve each other," Ducky said with a chuckle. "I've never read such a straightforward invitation before. You don't even have any pictures of the two of you."

"We know what we look like and so do our friends."

"Yes, but...oh, nevermind. I can see that you're happy about it and that's all that matters. You can be sure that I'll come no matter _when_ it is."

"Good. Glad you'll be there."

Ducky hugged Jethro quickly. "Congratulations, Jethro. I'm very happy for you both."

"I am, too."

"If you're admitting to it, you must be ecstatic."

Jethro laughed.

"Who are you inviting?"

"People here. My dad. Fornell. Couple of others."

"And Hollis?"

"Her whole family and friends in LA and Lana'i...and here."

"Ah, so you _will_ fill up some space."

"Yeah."

"Good. May I ask how you will be dealing with your disparate locations?"

"She's moving out here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Vance is going to make use of her as a consultant and on a part-time basis."

"She's all right with that?'

"Yep. Says she is. It was her suggestion."

"Well, then, you two are definitely right for each other and I wish you every happiness."

"Thanks."

Jethro handed off Jimmy's invitation and could have sworn that he'd surprised Ducky a bit by including Jimmy in his invites. He headed off to get to work.

"Jethro?"

"Yeah?" He turned back.

"You're happy?"

Jethro smiled. "Very."

"That's wonderful."

"Yeah, it is."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_Three months later..._

Hollis looked around the office. It was strange that she was leaving it now...and yet, it was also a bit exhilarating. Most of the best decisions she'd made in her life had been complete changes from what she'd been doing before. Joining the Army, moving to Lana'i, joining NCIS...and now, getting married and moving back to DC. Giant leaps that only made her life richer. So, while she'd miss some of this part of her life, she was excited to start the next leg of this race.

With all her stuff cleared out, and the reins officially handed over to Hettie (not that she hadn't been calling the shots for months already), Hollis was ready to move on.

She walked out of her office and had to keep herself from ducking at the loud chorus of shouting and the streamers flying at her from all sides. She looked around and saw her team all arrayed around her. Sam and Callen were holding a banner that read "Sayonara!" Even Nate was there, back from one of his mysterious "training" missions.

"All right, who's responsible for this?" she asked, unable to keep a straight face.

Fingers all pointed at each other.

Hollis laughed and shook her head. She didn't really want to know.

"Speech! Speech!" Callen called out.

"No way," Hollis protested. "You don't want to listen to me talk. That's what you have to do all the time."

"One last stern talking-to from our fearless leader," Sam said with a grin.

"Oh, I don't have to do that anymore," Hollis said. "That's Hettie's job now. ...not that it wasn't her job already."

"Any last words of wisdom?" Kensi asked.

"Nope. I got nothing," Hollis said. "...but if you want me to be mushy, these last three years have been...some of the best of my life."

"You sure that's because of us?" Callen asked. "I think there's something else...or maybe _someone_ else..."

"Don't start," Hollis said. "I'm serious. I never thought that I would want a job like this, but I'm really happy I got it, even though I'm leaving now. I'm glad that I had the experience of working with...a bunch of crazy nuts like you."

Everyone laughed and there was a short period of just saying good-bye. Someone had got a cake. While she enjoyed it, Hollis found that she was itching to get to the next phase of her life. There was so much more good to come.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Three days later..._

Hollis was sitting alone in the bridal cottage. Her wedding dress was hanging up, waiting for her to put it on. For a few seconds, she was sitting alone. It was probably the only time she'd have to herself for the rest of the day. She'd had breakfast with Jethro and Jackson. Dinner last night with her brothers. She'd come over to the wedding venue with Jethro, of course.

So, for just a moment, she was enjoying the calm before the storm. With a smile, she pulled out the ring she'd bought for Jethro and looked it over. She still liked it. It was basically the opposite of her own. Gold with a thin band of...well, it was platinum (not white gold) running through the center. It was also fairly thin so that it wouldn't get in his way.

She was surprised to notice that she didn't feel more than a mild case of nerves. Overall, she felt ready for what was going to happen.

There was a knock on the door.

"Hollis? It's Jack."

Hollis smiled. "Come in."

"It's safe?" he asked as he stepped inside.

"Perfectly."

"Shucks."

Hollis laughed. "What is it, Jack? Did we forget something important?"

Jackson smiled and shook his head.

"What is then?"

He walked over and took her hands in his own.

"I know that you and Jethro requested no gifts, but I wanted to give you something."

"What?"

"First..." He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Hollis blushed a little, surprised by the gesture.

"Welcome to the family," Jackson said. "Second..." He held out a flat package. "It's been a pleasure to be involved in your preparations, but I think you need one last thing."

Hollis smiled and opened the box. A simple pearl necklace with a single drop in the center, connected to the necklace by an antique silver clasp.

"It's beautiful. Where did you–?"

"I have connections. I didn't want it to overwhelm you with stuff. You're beautiful as you are." He kissed her once more on the cheek. "Leroy is lucky to have you, Hollis."

"Thank you...for all your help...and for accepting me and...all I bring with me."

"We all have our moments. You look beautiful. Leroy is chomping at the bit to see you."

"Is he?"

"Well, it's hard to tell with him sometimes, but I'm his father. I can see it. He can't wait."

"I'll take your word for it."

"In a couple of hours, you won't have to. I'll let you finish getting ready." He turned to go.

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Jack just smiled and left the cottage. Hollis looked at the necklace and then carefully put it on and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt as though she could just get married as she was, but then she thought of her mother. Cherie would roll over in her grave if she could hear her daughter's thoughts. Well, she would be putting on the dress. In fact, she only had a couple of minutes before the person who was to be helping with her hair and makeup (and her dress) would be showing up. That meant that she had to make sure everything was ready. It wouldn't take long, she hoped.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Two hours later..._

Jethro walked into the chapel, heading for his designated spot. He'd done this often enough that he knew where to stand. The pictures were finished, and everything was ready for when the guests started arriving...which they would, imminently. For a moment, though, he was alone. He looked around the small chapel.

Just for a few seconds, he allowed himself to think about Shannon. Did he feel like he was, in any way, betraying her memory by doing this? It took almost no time to come to the conclusion that Shannon would be happy that he was doing this. It was the right time, the right place...and the right woman. He couldn't help regretting all the times he'd got it wrong over the years. It hadn't helped _him_, but more importantly, it hadn't helped any of the women he'd married. He had been looking for something they couldn't give him. It wasn't their faults. It was his own, and he should have known that was the case.

"This is right, though," he said softly. "This is right."

He smiled as he thought of Hollis, looking...more gorgeous than he would have thought, clearly a little self-conscious due to the difference in what she was wearing from her normal garb. They had managed to relax and get the pictures done quickly. Then, Brenda had ushered her back to the bridal cottage to "freshen up" before the wedding. Hollis had given him a grin but allowed herself to be herded away.

No matter what, this day was worth it to see her so happy.

Not much time to wait. Just little more...

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_One hour later..._

"I, Hollis, take thee, Jethro, to be my lawful wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, and this is my solemn vow."

Jethro smiled at her as she finished. It was silent in the chapel. Hollis smiled back. He, then, put the wedding band on her finger. With the same hushed silence, Hollis pulled out the wedding band she'd chosen. It was the first time Jethro had seen it and he gave her a grin as she slid it onto a hand that had already seen a few wedding bands.

Jethro took her hand, clicking their rings together as the minister said that Jethro could kiss her. Hollis smiled. This was the only part of the ceremony that felt a bit strange to her. She wasn't big on public displays of affection and kissing in front of her friends and family seemed a bit odd.

Jethro didn't seem to feel any such reservations. He didn't pause at all as he leaned in to kiss her. It was...appropriate for the venue, and he never let go of her hand. It was a kiss that promised more.

Before she was ready, it was over, and they were being presented as man and wife. Everyone was standing and applauding as Jethro pulled her down the aisle, out of the chapel, and to the bridal cottage where they could hide until the reception started.

As soon as the door was closed, Jethro pulled her close and hugged her tightly.

"I love you," he whispered and nuzzled her neck.

"I love you," she said and kissed him much more passionately than they had done in the chapel. "Do we have to go to the reception?"

"Your idea. Not mine. Too late to change your mind."

Hollis laughed and pulled back from him. "Well, we did pay for it. I guess I'll go. Besides, the meal should be great."

Jethro laughed and reached out. He gently turned her around and took off the veil.

"You don't need this now."

"No, I don't," Hollis agreed.

"Where did you get the necklace?"

"Your father."

Jethro hugged her from behind. "He's yours now, too, you know. Father-in-law."

"Has to be better than what I grew up with," Hollis said and turned around in Jethro's arms. "So much better. Everything is so much better...there's only one thing I wish I could change."

"What?"

Hollis' smile softened a bit. "I wish my mom could have been here to see this. ...for one thing, she'd never believe it."

Jethro kissed her again and pulled her close.

"She'd believe it."

"Any regrets?" Hollis asked.

"None."

"Good. How long until we can show our faces again?"

"Forty minutes, I guess."

"Then, let's just sit and enjoy the calm before the storm."

Jethro nodded and pulled her to the loveseat in the corner. They sat together and just basked in being together. Hollis took hold of Jethro's left hand with her own left hand, letting their rings clink together again. Jethro entwined their fingers and kissed her temple.

Silence.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Three hours later..._

Dinner was done and people were dancing and talking. Jethro watched as Hollis chatted with her sisters-in-law. They were clearly ooh-ing and aah-ing over her dress, perhaps suppressing a bit of shock that Hollis could clean up so well. He smiled as he watched her. She wasn't quite so relaxed as she had been in Stillwater, but then, there were more people here than in Stillwater, and they had been coming in small groups, rather than all at once.

Regardless, he loved to watch her.

"Jethro."

The stern voice made him smile and look down.

"Hi, Hettie," he said.

Hettie smiled.

"Good to see you looking so happy, Jethro."

Jethro just smiled and didn't bother answering.

"You've got a good one there, you know," she said.

"I know."

"Good. ...because if you don't treat her well, and I hear of it, you'll have to face my wrath."

Jethro smiled, although, with Hettie, he knew it was no idle threat.

"I have no intention of not treating her well."

Hettie nodded. "Good to hear."

"Thanks for looking out for her in LA."

"It was my pleasure. She's been a delight to work with."

"Hey, Boss!"

Jethro turned from Hettie with a final nod and she headed over to Hollis...no doubt to tell her that she looked excellent in the dress.

"Tony," Jethro said. He actually felt a bit out of place with his team in a situation like this...a celebration of such a happy event. ...and yet, he couldn't have imagined not having them there. It was just a weird juxtaposition of parts of his life he usually kept separate.

"This is a _nice_ place you picked out," Tony said approvingly. "The food was great."

"You certainly ate enough of it," Ziva said.

"Hey, it's paid for! It'd just go to waste if I didn't eat it!"

"Tony, don't make me head slap you at my wedding," Jethro said.

Tim chuckled and then, after a moment of dithering, stuck out his hand.

"Congratulations, Boss. It was a beautiful ceremony."

Jethro shook his hand.

"Thanks, McGee. Seen Abby?"

"She's waiting for an opportune moment, I think," Tony said.

"I think she's found it," Tim said and winced.

That gave Jethro just enough time to brace himself before Abby nearly tackled him from behind.

"Gibbs! You're married! Again!"

Jethro couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Yes, Abbs. That's what the point of today was...me getting married."

Abby rushed around and hugged him again from the front.

"It's just so wonderful! I started crying, and McGee had to give me his handkerchief and I got mascara all over it, and I'm going to have to wash it for him, and Agent Mann...er...Hollis...looked so pretty and you're all smiling and happy and stuff and it's just so great! Congratulations!"

Jethro just laughed. "Thanks, Abbs."

He looked over and saw Hollis laughing at the exuberant congratulations he was receiving. He grinned back at her.

"Where are you going on your honeymoon, Boss?" Tony asked, while helping Gibbs disentangle himself from Abby.

"Hawaii?" Tim asked.

"We'll get there."

"You are not going to spend it in your basement, are you?" Ziva asked.

"Not all of it."

"Oh, Boss," Tony said, shaking his head. "Why is it that you can get married, spending time in your basement and we can't even get dates?"

"Hey, speak for yourself," Tim said. "Some of us don't have any trouble."

"Oh, really, McStag?"

_Thwack!_

"Hey!"

"No bickering at my wedding, DiNozzo," Jethro said, barely suppressing a laugh.

Tony rubbed his head and then gave an irrepressible grin.

"Gotcha, Boss. I'll be the picture of perfect behavior."

"Until you speak," Ziva said with a smile.

Jethro pointed a finger at her. "That goes for you, too, Ziva."

Then, there was no more time to lecture. A group of Hollis' friends spotted him and swarmed over. Jethro was nearly carried away by the congratulations, but he saw his team enjoying themselves and that was good enough.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Hollis had said thank you so many times in the last few hours that the words were starting to lose meaning. She was afraid that she'd start responding that way if someone just said hello. Still, in spite of the fact that the reception had been going on a long time, she was enjoying herself. Everything had been going so well.

"Holly."

Hollis turned around with a wide smile.

"Hey, Jason."

"Well, I don't think you're regretting your choice," he said.

Hollis hugged her older brother.

"No, I'm not. I hope that still meets with your approval."

"And if it doesn't?"

Hollis laughed. "Deal with it. It's too late to change your mind now."

"I'll keep that in mind. Really, Hollis...I don't think I've ever seen you as happy as you are right now; so I don't have any problems."

"Neither do I...except that I want to kick everyone out so that Jethro and I can leave."

Jason laughed. "You don't have much longer. Your friends are too old to be staying out all night."

"Ha. Ha."

As if he'd been reading her mind, the DJ suddenly announced that it was the last dance. Hollis looked around. She and Jethro hadn't done a whole lot of dancing, but the last dance was something she wanted to participate in...if only for the symbolism of it. Jason hugged her once more and then pushed her in the appropriate direction. The crowd cleared away for a moment and she caught sight of her husband. He saw her and made his way to her. Then, he put his arms around her and drew her into a dance. He was no expert, but then, neither was she. They fit together well enough. All that mattered was the two of them. She knew that there were a lot of people dancing around her, but all she cared about was Jethro. He smiled and spun her out. She followed his lead and then twirled carefully back into his arms. The song continued and they moved around the dance floor, keeping in the rhythm but not really worrying about whether or not they were using the right steps. If anyone had a problem with their moves, they didn't say anything...and Jethro and Hollis wouldn't have cared if they did.

After the song ended, Hollis was happy to note that people began to file out...with one last set of good wishes...to which Hollis replied 'thank you'.

It was a feeling of relief accompanying their quick return to the bridal cottage to gather up their stuff. Then, they hurried to Jethro's car and left.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro pulled Hollis into the house and then made her wait upstairs for a few minutes before grabbing her hand and taking her...down to the basement.

"Why do we _always_ end up here?" Hollis asked.

"You've asked that before," he said.

"I know. I don't really expect an answer. I know why."

Jethro smiled and gestured.

Hollis' breath caught as she saw what he'd done. No one else would probably see this as romantic, but she did. Jethro had set up a mattress on the floor, flanked by lit candles.

...and it was set up beneath a new keel.

"New boat?"

"Thought we could work on it together."

"I'd love that."

"But not right now."

"No. We can do that later."

Jethro took her hand and led her the mattress. They lay down and spent their first night together as husband and wife.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_The next morning..._

Hollis woke up with a deep breath. Just to verify that it had all really happened, she lifted her hand and smiled as she saw the ring.

Another hand ran up her arm and then entwined his fingers with hers.

"Good morning, Holly."

"Good morning."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like everything is right."

"It is."

Hollis leaned back against her husband.

Yes, everything was right.

FINIS!


End file.
